PHP Customizations

With PowerSchool Premier's ODBC access we can now use PHP do make much more flexible pages that can show a lot more information in many more ways. However, PHP pages will not be a simple plug and play type of option, users will need to know how to set up PHP pages, have a PHP server with the ODBC driver for Oracle/Sybase installed on it and have the ability to make modifications to edit mostly ready customizations to use your ODBC connection. In the coming weeks/months the PowerDataSolutions team will try to present customizations in a orderly way so that they are as easy to install universally as we can make them.

Please note, the ODBC drivers for both Sybase (PowerSchool 5.1.x) and Oracle (PowerSchool 5.2.x) are free for Windows. Mac versions exist for a price. These drivers will only need to be installed on your PHP server, not every users computer (unlike when you make excel type solutions) so purchasing the Mac ODBC driver should not be too painful. The last time checked it was somewhere around $30.

As always, but even more importantly for these pages READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY!

The PowerDataSolutions Team

Title	Revision Date	Functionaility
SSL Off Campus V1.0	04-24-2008	Controls if users log in from SSL or not based on if they are on campus or not. Requires the district having a PHP server to host 1 small page.
Low Grades Report Teachers	09-28-2009	This is an easy to run PHP based low grades report for teachers. It is difficult to set up, but it allows my teachers to print out mid term progress notices in 5 minutes or less for all of their students. It also opens up a security hole in PowerSchool. I have this report configured so that it can only be run from within my district to minimize the security hole.