PHP Switcher

PHP Switcher is a Windows application that allows you to easily manage and switch between different PHP versions on your system. It is focused on the CLI version of PHP.

Features

• Download and install multiple PHP versions from official repositories
• Quickly switch between installed versions with a single click
• Manage Thread Safe and Non-Thread Safe versions
• Intuitive and easy-to-use graphical interface
• Automatic environment variable configuration
• Full support for PHP 5.x, 7.x, and 8.x, including all versions and compiler formats
• Support for both x64 and x86 architectures

System Requirements

• Windows 10/11
• .NET 9.0 or higher
• Administrator permissions (to create symbolic links)

Installation

1. Download the latest version from the releases section
2. Run the installer or extract the ZIP file
3. Run PhpSwitcher.exe as administrator

Usage

Installing PHP Versions

1. Go to the "Available Versions" tab
2. Select the PHP version you want to install
3. Click on "Download Selected Version(s)"
4. Wait for the download and installation to complete

Switching Between PHP Versions

1. Go to the "Installed Versions" tab
2. Select the PHP version you want to activate
3. Click on "Activate Selected Version"
4. The selected version will be immediately available in the command line

Removing PHP Versions

1. Go to the "Installed Versions" tab
2. Select the PHP version you want to remove
3. Click on "Remove Selected Version"
4. Confirm the removal

How It Works

PHP Switcher creates a symbolic link at C:\php that points to the selected PHP version. It also ensures that C:\php is in the system's PATH environment variable.

Development

Development Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022 or higher
• .NET 9.0 SDK
• Git

Cloning the Repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/php-Switcher.git
cd php-Switcher

Building

# Build in Debug mode (development)
dotnet build

# Build in Release mode (production)
dotnet build -c Release

Running

# Normal execution
dotnet run

# Execution with visible console (debug mode)
dotnet run -- -c

# Execution in development mode
dotnet run -- -d

Generating a Self-Contained Executable

To create a self-contained executable that includes all .NET dependencies:

dotnet publish -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained true -p:PublishSingleFile=true -p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true

The executable will be generated in the bin\Release\net9.0-windows\win-x64\publish\ folder.

Creating an MSI Installer

To create an MSI installer, WiX Toolset is used:

1. Install WiX Toolset:

dotnet tool install --global wix

2. Create the WiX configuration file (PhpSwitcher.wxs) in the Installer folder.

3. Build the installer:

cd Installer
wix build PhpSwitcher.wxs -out PhpSwitcher.msi

The MSI installer will be generated in the Installer\ folder.

Project Structure

To understand the project structure, check the following files:

• structure.md - Detailed project structure
• features.md - Implemented features
• task_pending.md - Completed tasks
• CHANGELOG.md - Change history

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.