how do you run external binarys from php?

phpjaco

hello

how do I run a library from php? I know that ill probably use exec() function but not sure how this works?

I am a windows user and therefore dont really know much at all of linux. So how do I run a program from php?

and how do I know what the path is to the program? I want to use a program that comes standard with linux. do i need to ask my isp to move [ or make a copy of this library] somewhere to my web folder and then use exec to run it? where do i go from here?

anyhelp here would be greatly appreciated.

thanx in advance

dalecosp

You could try using whereis(1) to find a binary. You'd run it by using system(), or exec() , or shell_exec(), or whatever they'll allow, if anything.

IOW, to find grep(1) as an example, you might:

<?php

echo system("whereis grep");

?>

This works here for me, and tells me that grep(1) is under /usr/bin ....

HTH,

phpjaco

hello

thanx lots for the help so far? I see where grep is but cant seem to find the program I am looking for?

is it possible to display all program available so i can see if it doesnt have a different filename i am looking for?

like a loop displaying all programs available for running?

thanx in advance

tsinka

Hi,

which program are you looking for ? It's a little bit difficult to list all programs since that depends a little bit on things like PATH settings and file access permissions. So in worst case PHP can't see or execute a program that exists due to permission settings.

Thomas

phpjaco

hello

i am actually looking for a program called pdftotext which is supposingly a standard program that comes with a standard linux installation but when i type in

 <?php

  system("whereis pdftotext");

?>

i dont see it so dont know if it is in another directory or how i should access it.

tsinka

On most distributions this is part of the xpdf package. So check if the xpdf package is installed (I don't think that xpdf is part of a standard installation in all cases).

EDIT: I oversaw the "isp" in your first post. You might need to ask your isp to install that package ...

Thomas

phpjaco

hello

have tried

 system("whereis xpdf");

but this results in nothing, does this mean it is not installed and they might need to install it for me?

tsinka

You can't find xpdf with whereis (or alternatively which) because xpdf is the name of the distribution package and pdftotext is one of the executables that comes with that package. So if you don't find pdftotext that means that either the xpdf package isn't installed at all or that PHP can't find it due to permission settings.

I think that you need to contact you isp.

Thomas

phpjaco

thanx for all the help will contact my isp and see whats up. will resolve this thread when the issue becomes resolved.