exec() again and again

Anon

i've been reading almost all postings on this subject but i can't get it to work.
i'm trying to execute a phpscript with exec() but it seems to do nothing.

after a form is passed, i do:
exec('myScript.php >/dev/null 2>&1 &');
header('Location: $url');

when i call myScript.php from the command-line it's working fine.

hopefully someone can help me.
thx

toma42

Why not just include() the script instead?

Anon

the script has to get info out of a db and sending mail. i think it should run in the background 'cause of the executing time. now the script only sends 3 emails, but it going to be more...
when i include the file, the execution stops after the user leaves the site. i do not want that.
or am i wrong?

toma42

Use a cron job and just add the email address to mail to a queue. Run the cron job every X minutes and it can send the email.

Anon

i know about that but it is not what i want.
is that really the only possibility?
the sending should start immidiately.

the form doesn't give me the emailaddress where the mail has to go. it gives only the content. i use the script to fetch the emailaddresses and send the e-mail.

so the use of a cron job is not really an option i think.

ciao

Anon

tijger !

I am facing a similar problem but have yet to find the proper syntax.

Have you been able to find a solution and share it with me ?

I want to use exec to call another PHP script and pass it some variables:
exec("test2.php $myvars");

Thanks,
Peter

tijger

Hi Peter,

the following does work for me:

<?
if($str != "") {
exec("/usr/local/bin/php -q ./testmail.php $str $fix");
}
?>

where $str and $fix are myvars.

in testmail.php
$argv[1] is the $str var and $argv[2] contains $fix.

read the article about shell scripting for help on the variables.
hope you get it to work.
greetings

Anon

Hi Tijger,

It also works for me with the exception that I needed to add single quotes to pass the vars:

exec("/usr/bin/php -q ./my_script.php '$str $fix'");

Do yo know what "-q" does ?
I need to execute a perl script and am wondering if the same would apply ?

exec("/usr/bin/perl -q ./my_script.cgi '$str $fix'");

Thank you very much,
Peter

tijger

Hi Peter,

php -h
says:
Usage: php [-q] [-h] [-s] [-v] [-i] [-f <file>] | {<file> [args...]}
-q Quiet-mode. Suppress HTTP Header output.
-s Display colour syntax highlighted source.
-f<file> Parse <file>. Implies `-q'
-v Version number
-c<path> Look for php.ini file in this directory
-a Run interactively
-d foo[=bar] Define INI entry foo with value 'bar'
-e Generate extended information for debugger/profiler
-z<file> Load Zend extension <file>.
-l Syntax check only (lint)
-m Show compiled in modules
-i PHP information
-h This help

greetings