if you get MySQL errors like "you have an error in you SQL syntax ... near '\'m%\' ORDER BY...", this is most likely caused by a PHP feature called magic_quotes_gpc. When magic quotes are on, PHP automatically escapes special characters in GET/POST/COOKIE data. Since most scripts do not cope with this, MAGIC QUOTES SHOULD ALWAYS BE SWITCHED OFF! you can disable them by setting magic_quotes_gpc=off in your php.ini. In case you cannot edit the php.ini file yourself, you can also set the according flag in a .htaccess file. Also make sure you have a reasonably recent version of MySQL installed; please check the web site or README to find out about the minimal requirements.

If you want to use this feature, you must have HTMLdoc installed. HTMLdoc is freely available from easysw. Please note that you can download the source only, there are no pre-compiled binaries available. Also, please understand that I cannot give any support regarding the compilation or installation of HTMLdoc.

Once HTMLdoc is up and running, make sure the executable is installed in <path_to_php4flicks>/print/. If you install it in another directory, you must edit the path variable in the index.php file in the /print directory.

First, make sure you have set a passwort correctly. If you still cannot log in, something with your servers session management might be wrong. Please refer to your server's manual if you are unsure how to configure this. Also make sure that your browser accepts cookies! This is a quite common source of problems if you're using IE.

The password used for login is stored in /config/config.php. It is md5-encrypted for security reasons. To get the md5-value of your password, type 'md5 -s<your_password>'. On windows boxes, you can use a small PHP script to get the encrypted value: <?echo md5(<your_password>); ?>.

This happens if you are using an older php version. Please use the 'http-compress' config option.

Every time IMDb.com modify their pages (which they do far too often) the script might no longer be able to parse the pages and fetch movie data correctly. If you notice this error, please drop me a note so I can update the fetch function asap.

short answer: I don't know and I don't care.

first off, I am no expert in legal matters. If you want to be on the safe side, contact a legal counsel. Here are some considerations, anyway.

• If the operator of a site makes information on that site publicly and freely available, he cannot at the same time ask visitors of the site not to use the information the way they want. Also, what is downloaded are just plain facts that are not intellectual property of imdb; you could get the same information, e.g., from a dvd cover. As for the robots: technically there is no difference between your browser and a PHP script accessing a web server. they both just make useof the HTTP protocol, and they both do it automatically (nobody actually types HTTP headers by hand, so a browser is some sort of robot if you will.)
• the entire imdb data base is available for download (or at least used to be) so even 'normal' use of their website doesn't exactly seem to comply with their own rules.
• since I (and neither you, supposedly) never signed an agreement with imdb stating that I accept their terms and conditions, I strongly doubt they have any legal effect at all.
• the whole licence seems pretty ridiculous anyway. since when do youneed permission to hyperlink to some resource? that's just not the way the internet works.
• finally, the situation may depend on where you live. Even if the use of imdb data should be illegal under U.S. jurisdiction (which I doubt) it might still legal in other countries.

anyway, as long as you don't download their whole database and don't use the data commercially, I don't think imdb would care even if it was against their license. At least imdb hasn't complained with me yet. If they should I will of course publish their point of view on the php4flicks website.