dynamic creation of a file on the server

[Anon]

Fellow Programmers..

I have written a php script which dynamically produces a web page from a user changeable database.

The problem is the processing time on the server is long, affecting download times to the user.

In order remedy this i had the idea that if we could generate the dynamic part of the web page every couple of minutes or so then the user could then download the most current web page on the server without having to wait for the server to query the database.

Specifically the problem is as follows ..
Is is possible to have a server side script whos function is only to produce a dynamically created static web page on a time schedule which sits on the server until a user requests the most current page that has been created.

In relation to my problem i wish to dynamically create a .js file which contains arrays of information which can the be processed on the client in a html/javascript web page.

I have never seen this problem on the forum so if anybody already has any insights in how this can be implemented that would be nice!

I shall of course look hard at the problem myself, as i have to, so if i have anything further to say on this matter i shall write my thoughts/discoveries to the forum.

kind regards

paul

[e-mail]

[Anon]

As far as I can understand, all you need is to cron your script which creates dynamic pages. Just set this cron job to run every 2 minutes - and it is done, or am I missing something?

[Anon]

Yep.

This is a common decision faced by the masters of dynamic, data-driven sites. Generating a page dynamically can be a lot slower than just pushing a static page down the line. So, they go for the option you mention, periodically recreating static pages for speedy downloads.

You could write, for example, a perl script which generates your pages. Once you have it tested thoroughly look into the unix "crontab" command to schedule how often the job runs.

Crontab is very flexible. You can specify that the job runs every 5 minutes, every hour, or the second Tuesday of every month.

I suggest using perl rather than PHP because it is possible to run a perl script on the server rather than through the httpd server. (If you know what I mean). This is necessary so that you can crontab the program. I am not aware of any way to directly run a php script, without requesting it through the httpd server.

If you must use PHP to do the page creation, you could write a simple perl program which requests it through the httpd server. You could them crontab the requesting perl program.

Hope this helps.

Jack

[Anon]

Thankyou Jack for your reply.

Can you point me to any resources that you regard invaluable in using and understanding the unix crontab command to schedule runs

kind regards

paul

[e-mail]

[Anon]

Sorry for getting into your mans talk :-)
The first about CRON - search this forum, it was discussed just yesterday and many times before, I have found everything here - I had the same problem not too long ago.
Then, use "man crontab" in UNIX.
I also used:
www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/view.phtml/aid/1005/fid/436

www.faqts.com/knowledge_base/view.phtml/aid/80/fid/32

http://schvin.net/writings/crontab.html

All other inofrmation I found here...

[Anon]

Thanks Annchen for the links these look very useful i shall look through the recent archives for more information as indicated.

kind regards

paul

[e-mail]

[Anon]

Here's a good one 🙂

http://kb.indiana.edu/data/afiz.html

[Anon]

thankyou jack for the link much appreciated

kind regards

paul