PHP and Cron Jobs - Linux/Apache

[Anon]

Hello,

I use PHP 4.0.4 on Redhat Linux 6.1/Apache 1.3.14

I have PHP files that allow my company to access a customer billing database. When a customer is due, our billing clerk logs in to the database and clicks a form button that then connects to Authorize.net to retrieve the payment from the customer's credit card.

I want to automate this process so that we can eliminate the step whereas we have to click on the button.

I realize I may be able to use a crontab to do this. However, in the past, I have been unable to get a server path reference to a PHP page to process via cron.

Are there issues in regard to using cron with PHP?

Can anyone point me to online documentation in this regard that I might be able to learn from?

Thanks
Bill

[Anon]

P.S.
The automated process will require a form method post.

[kparker]

issues in regard to using cron with PHP

Nothing much of note, except to be aware that if you don't have the command line/cgi version of PHP also installed, then the cron job will have to use lynx, wget, or some other kind of http-requesting command-line program to trigger the script. One big benefit of the command-line version for something like this is it can run under whatever userid you want (assuming you "own" the box, of course.)