Passing PHP arguments from web server

stovellp

Hey guys! I'm creating a web server in C++ (Yes, this is PHP related, I'll get to it in a second) that I want to be able to run PHP scripts (see I told you).

Now I can call the PHP.exe file and tell it the file I want executing, my problem lies in passing arguments to the php.exe.

I need to know the syntax of the way the arguments need to be passed, Ie:
/myfile.php?user=paul
I need to be able to tell php.exe that the arguments are user=paul etc.

Does anyone have a quick way of doing this, or any links to places which could tell me?

Thanks

stovellp

Yes, this is a bump 🙁 I'm really sorry but I've tried almost everywhere and can't find any information on this subject, and I figure you guys would be the best ones to ask.

Please, even if you dont know, could you just give me a link to a site with people who might? I would really appreciate it 🙂

Weedpacket

It kind of depends how you're calling PHP; since you're not saying, I'm guessing you're calling the executable directly (rather than through a web server, which would make the whole idea sound a bit circular!). In that case, you'd probably be calling it via the CGI protocol, using its stdin and stdout.

I guess in that case a couple of links would be
http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.commandline.php
and
http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/cgi/interface.html
and
http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/darrell20000319.php3

stovellp

Well I can't call it from the web server because I am making the web server. This is what I'm doing:

The web server recieves the file requested by the browser.
Then, the web server finds the executable suitable for the script, and passes the script something like this:
d:\php\php.exe /test.php

The thing is i need to know how to send it the query string and other information it wants. I'm looking at the links you gave me, thanks very much, but it doesn't say exactly how I'm supposed to pass them to php.exe or whatever the script program is. :S

I expect theres a standard way for all langauges because otherwise how would apache etc. know how to give them to them?

But thanks for the links, they're most appreciated 🙂

Weedpacket

Originally posted by stovellp
I expect theres a standard way for all langauges because otherwise how would apache etc. know how to give them to them?

Yeah, it's called the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) protocol.

stovellp

Yeah, I learned that from the links you gave me, thanks very much. But that still hasn't fixed it. This is what I want to do.

On my server, I can have a variable called QUERY_STRING which I set equal to something like "?user=fred", or whatever is sent by the browser.

I understand that just fine. I also know that I have to pass the contents of this variable to PHP.exe so it can be used by the scripts. I know all that. What I dont know is how to pass it. I have tried this:

php.exe H:\script.php QUERY_STRING john=paul
php.exe H:\script.php QUERY_STRING ?john=paul
php.exe H:\script.php QUERY_STRING=?john=paul.
php.exe H:\script.php QUERY_STRING "john=paul"
php.exe H:\script.php QUERY_STRING "?john=paul"

And numeruous other things like that, but they just havent worked. I know what the CGI is, but I need to know how to pass it to the script interpreter to use.

Thanks for your help, please if you have any ideas I'd love to know.