The new release contains a bugfix for bug #10220. The Date_Holidays::factory method called the setlocale() function in a way that very possibly may have broken the localization of applications using the package.

Additionally there were three new drivers/filters added for calculation of holidays for:

• Austria (driver provided by Klemens Ullmann <klemens -at- ull -dot- at>),
• England/Wales (driver provided by Tim Dodge <timmy -at- invisibles -dot- org>) and
• Ireland (driver and filter for calculation of official holidays provided by Ken Guest <ken -at- linux -dot- ie>).

Thanks to all contributors and bug reporters! If you experience any problems with this release do not hesitate to contact me or to submit a bug-report.

PHP Programming with PEAR

Packt Publishings PEAR book (PHP Programming with PEAR) has finally been published.

PEAR is the PHP Extension and Application Repository, and is a framework and distribution system for reusable, high-quality PHP components, available in the form of “packages”.

I co-authored this book together with my very good friend Stephan Schmidt, and Stoyan Stefanov and Aaron Wormus.

In this book, you will learn how to use a number of the most powerful PEAR packages available to boost your PHP development productivity. By focusing on these packages for key development activities, this book is an in-depth guide to getting the most from these powerful coding resources.

You will become a master of various PEAR packages that help you with the essential tasks of PHP development such as:

• Accessing databases with MDB2
• Displaying data in a range of formats (HTML, Excel spreadsheet, PDF)
• Creating and parsing XML documents
• Serializing PHP objects into XML, and unserializing XML documents to PHP objects
• Consuming and offering web services
• Accessing Web APIs including Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and Technorati

Links:

• Book website at Packt Publishing

International PHP Magazine - Issue 3.05

Published in International PHP Magazine 3.05 by Carsten Lucke

Holidays or other special days are an important part of almost every calendar. Some of those days are easy to calculate but if the recurrence-rules are more complex and based on advanced algorithms the whole thing can get quite complicated very fast. The article covers the Date_Holidays package that is available in PEAR and shows you how to make the programmer’s life much easier.

Language. English

Characters. 19931

Description. This article introduces the secrets of PEAR::Date_Holidays, and shows how to use the package to calculate holidays, and search for them by date. The article will also set you on the path writing your own holiday calculation routines and providing multi-language support for them.

Links:

• International PHP Magazine website