running a script

[YodaOfCamarilla]

Is there a way to run a .php file without somebody having to open it in their browser. Im asking because I have a script that will take a good couple of minutes to execute and nobody will sit that long and wait so more than likely it will be cancelled.

If there was some kind of link I could put in another php file that when somebody opens it, it would trigger the other script to run but would not have to load in the users browser.

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated thx

[bubblenut]

Is your site hosted on a *nix (linux or unix) server? If so you can run it in the background through a [man]shell_exec()[/man] call (a similar thing can be done on Windows but I don't know how).
You will want to use a command similar to the following.

php ./file.php &

HTH
Bubble

[YodaOfCamarilla]

thx for your help but im a little confused, my site is hosted on a nix server but my home comp (where im testing it) is windowsXP. So im not sure if it works, I cant test the script on my site yet because if I run the script and it works then problems will arise.

should this coding be ok when i upload the script?

$reset=shell_exec('php ./fsreset.php');
echo("$reset");

the file fsreset.php is the script i wish to run.