View PHP result in MS Expression

Question

I am beginner in Microsoft Expression Web 4. I tried to write a PHP code but I can't view the code result. What configuration do i need to view PHP results in MS Expression?

Answer 1

From what I can tell, you're writing PHP code, using Microsoft Expression Web 4 as your editor, and want to view the page's result from an end user's perspective.

Since PHP code needs to be interpreted by a server first, you cannot just open your PHP file in a web browser and see what an end user would see.

Normally you'd need to setup a web server on your machine or a remote machine. However, Microsoft provide a built-in server with Expression Web called Expression Development Server. From what I can tell, it is designed to allow a developer to quickly view dynamic web pages, like PHP or ASP.NET, on their local machine without having to set up their own web server.

It is fairly easy to get started and pretty much only involves installing PHP. I used the free version of Expression Web 4 and followed this tutorial: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/expression/ee662148.aspx

Note: You will need to make sure that the PHP file that you want to preview is part of a "Site". A "site" can be created via the Site-->New Site located in the main menu.