Running a script every x minute

meigwil

Hi,

Is there a way in PHP for running a script regularly e.g. every minute?

I'm building an SMS app that needs to check a MySQL database at regular intervals.

Thanks for any help,

Mei

jkurrle

An HTML alternative might be the meta refresh. Sample HTML code looks like this:

Assuming you are sitting in same_url.html, this HTML code would cause the page to refresh every 60 seconds. If you are using script blocking software in your browser, you may need to move the content's left quote to something more like this:

Hopefully, someone will provide a PHP solution as an alternative for you to review...

Ludichrist

Do you mean that a user would have the page open, and every x minutes it refreshes, or do you mean that a script runs independant of any users every x minutes?

If you mean the first, you'd use javascript using the settimeout() function to reload the page. Otherwise you'll need a cron job running on the server.

wvwisokee

I just found a host with cron job support, believe me they are rare, look here.
http://mechhost.com/forum/ you need 10 posts before singing up but then no post are required.

meigwil

I need the script to run independently of users. I'll explain the premise:

I have two databases: the first is to hold requests, the second is to hold data.

The request db is updated by SMS (a POST request sent from the service provider). The data db is updated by periodically by someone else. I need the script to run every x sdeconds, first to check the request db if there are any unfulfilled requests, and then check the data db if there is data corresponding to the unfulfilled requests.

Any data that exists is sent to the service provider to be sent out via SMS.

I've looked up cron jobs on Google - how easy is it to set this up with a hosting company?

Thanks,

Mei