PHP 7.0.6 Released

    Using PHP from the command line

    Table of Contents

    User Contributed Notes

    sep16 at psu dot edu
    3 years ago
    You can easily parse command line arguments into the $_GET variable by using the parse_str() function.

    <?php

    parse_str    (implode('&', array_slice($argv, 1)), $_GET);

    ?>

    It behaves exactly like you'd expect with cgi-php.

    $ php -f somefile.php a=1 b[]=2 b[]=3

    This will set $_GET['a'] to '1' and $_GET['b'] to array('2', '3').

    Even better, instead of putting that line in every file, take advantage of PHP's auto_prepend_file directive.  Put that line in its own file and set the auto_prepend_file directive in your cli-specific php.ini like so:

    auto_prepend_file = "/etc/php/cli-php5.3/local.prepend.php"

    It will be automatically prepended to any PHP file run from the command line.
    ben at slax0rnet dot com
    12 years ago
    Just a note for people trying to use interactive mode from the commandline.

    The purpose of interactive mode is to parse code snippits without actually leaving php, and it works like this:

    [root@localhost php-4.3.4]# php -a
    Interactive mode enabled

    <?php echo "hi!"; ?>
    <note, here we would press CTRL-D to parse everything we've entered so far>
    hi!
    <?php exit(); ?>
    <ctrl-d here again>
    [root@localhost php-4.3.4]#

    I noticed this somehow got ommited from the docs, hope it helps someone!
    roberto dot dimas at gmail dot com
    10 years ago
    One of the things I like about perl and vbscripts, is the fact that I can name a file e.g. 'test.pl' and just have to type 'test, without the .pl extension' on the windows command line and the command processor knows that it is a perl file and executes it using the perl command interpreter.

    I did the same with the file extension .php3 (I will use php3 exclusivelly for command line php scripts, I'm doing this because my text editor VIM 6.3 already has the correct syntax highlighting for .php3 files ).

    I modified the PATHEXT environment variable in Windows XP, from the " 'system' control panel applet->'Advanced' tab->'Environment Variables' button-> 'System variables' text area".

    Then from control panel "Folder Options" applet-> 'File Types' tab, I added a new file extention (php3), using the button 'New'  and typing php3 in the window that pops up.

    Then in the 'Details for php3 extention' area I used the 'Change' button to look for the Php.exe executable so that the php3 file extentions are associated with the php executable.

    You have to modify also the 'PATH' environment variable, pointing to the folder where the php executable is installed

    Hope this is useful to somebody
    volkany at celiknet dot com
    13 years ago
    Here goes a very simple clrscr function for newbies...
    function clrscr() { system("clear"); }
    goalain eat gmail dont com
    9 years ago
    An addition to my previous post (you can replace it)

    If your php script doesn't run with shebang (#!/usr/bin/php),
    and it issues the beautifull and informative error message:
    "Command not found."  just dos2unix yourscript.php
    et voila.

    If you still get the "Command not found."
    Just try to run it as ./myscript.php , with the "./"
    if it works - it means your current directory is not in the executable search path.

    If your php script doesn't run with shebang (#/usr/bin/php),
    and it issues the beautifull and informative message:
    "Invalid null command." it's probably because the "!" is missing in the the shebang line (like what's above) or something else in that area.

    \Alon
    wanna at stay dot anonynous dot com
    13 years ago
    TIP: If you want different versions of the configuration file  depending on what SAPI is used,just name them php.ini (apache module), php-cli.ini (CLI) and php-cgi.ini (CGI) and dump them all in the regular configuration directory. I.e no need to compile several versions of php anymore!
    jeff at noSpam[] dot genhex dot net
    13 years ago
    You can also call the script from the command line after chmod'ing the file (ie: chmod 755 file.php).

    On your first line of the file, enter "#!/usr/bin/php" (or to wherever your php executable is located).  If you want to suppress the PHP headers, use the line of "#!/usr/bin/php -q" for your path.
    merrittd at dhcmc dot com
    11 years ago
    Example 43-2 shows how to create a DOS batch file to run a PHP script form the command line using:

    @c:\php\cli\php.exe script.php %1 %2 %3 %4

    Here is an updated version of the DOS batch file:

    @c:\php\cli\php.exe %~n0.php %*

    This will run a PHP file (i.e. script.php) with the same base file name (i.e. script) as the DOS batch file (i.e. script.bat) and pass all parameters (not just the first four as in example 43-2) from the DOS batch file to the PHP file. 

    This way all you have to do is copy/rename the DOS batch file to match the name of your PHP script file without ever having to actually modify the contents of the DOS batch file to match the file name of the PHP script.
    rob
    9 years ago
    i use emacs in c-mode for editing.  in 4.3, starting a cli script like so:

    #!/usr/bin/php -q /* -*- c -*- */
    <?php

    told emacs to drop into c    -mode automatically when i loaded the file for editing.  the '-q' flag didn't actually do anything (in the older cgi versions, it suppressed html output when the script was run) but it caused the commented mode line to be ignored by php.

    in 5.2, '    -q' has apparently been deprecated.  replace it with '--' to achieve the 4.3 invocation-with-emacs-mode-line behavior:

    #!/usr/bin/php -- /* -*- c -*- */
    <?php

    don'    t go back to your 4.3 system and replace '-q' with '--'; it seems to cause php to hang waiting on STDIN...
    Adam, php(at)getwebspace.com
    12 years ago
    Ok, I've had a heck of a time with PHP > 4.3.x and whether to use CLI vs CGI. The CGI version of 4.3.2 would return (in browser):
    ---
    No input file specified.
    ---

    And the CLI version would return:
    ---
    500 Internal Server Error
    ---

    It appears that in CGI mode, PHP looks at the environment variable PATH_TRANSLATED to determine the script to execute and ignores command line. That is why in the absensce of this environment variable, you get "No input file specified." However, in CLI mode the HTTP headers are not printed. I believe this is intended behavior for both situations but creates a problem when you have a CGI wrapper that sends environment variables but passes the actual script name on the command line.

    By modifying my CGI wrapper to create this PATH_TRANSLATED environment variable, it solved my problem, and I was able to run the CGI build of 4.3.2
    jonNO at SPAMjellybob dot co dot uk
    13 years ago
    If you want to get the output of a command use the function shell_exec($command) - it returns a string with the output of the command.
    pyxl at jerrell dot com
    14 years ago
    Assuming --prefix=/usr/local/php, it's better to create a symlink from /usr/bin/php or /usr/local/bin/php to target /usr/local/php/bin/php so that it's both in your path and automatically correct every time you rebuild.  If you forgot to do that copy of the binary after a rebuild, you can do all kinds of wild goose chasing when things break.
    djcassis at gmail
    9 years ago
    To display colored text when it is actually supported :
    <?php
    echo "\033[31m".$myvar; // red foreground
    echo "\033[41m".$myvar; // red background
    ?>

    To reset these settings :
    <?php
    echo "\033[0m";
    ?>

    More fun :
    <?php
    echo "\033[5;30m;\033[48mWARNING !"; // black blinking text over red background
    ?>

    More info here : http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prompt-HOWTO/x329.html
    Popeye at P-t-B dot com
    13 years ago
    In *nix systems, use the WHICH command to show the location of the php binary executable. This is the path to use as the first line in your php shell script file. (#!/path/to/php -q) And execute php from the command line with the -v switch to see what version you are running.

    example:

    # which php
    /usr/local/bin/php
    # php -v
    PHP 4.3.1 (cli) (built: Mar 27 2003 14:41:51)
    Copyright (c) 1997-2002 The PHP Group
    Zend Engine v1.3.0, Copyright (c) 1998-2002 Zend Technologies

    In the above example, you would use: #!/usr/local/bin/php

    Also note that, if you do not have the current/default directory in your PATH (.), you will have to use ./scriptfilename to execute your script file from the command line (or you will receive a "command not found" error). Use the ENV command to show your PATH environment variable value.
    frankNospamwanted at. toppoint dot. de
    1 year ago
    Parsing commandline argument GET String without changing the PHP script (linux shell):
    URL: index.php?a=1&b=2
    Result: output.html

    echo "" | php -R 'include("index.php");' -B 'parse_str($argv[1], $_GET);' 'a=1&b=2' >output.html

    (no need to change php.ini)

    You can put this
      echo "" | php -R 'include("'$1'");' -B 'parse_str($argv[1], $_GET);' "$2"
    in a bash script "php_get" to use it like this:
      php_get index.php 'a=1&b=2' >output.html
    or directed to text browser...
      php_get index.php 'a=1&b=2' |w3m -T text/html
    thomas dot harding at laposte dot net
    7 years ago
    Parsing command line: optimization is evil!

    One thing all contributors on this page forgotten is that you can suround an argv with single or double quotes. So the join coupled together with the preg_match_all will always break that :)

    Here is a proposal:

    #!/usr/bin/php
    <?php
    print_r    (arguments($argv));

    function     arguments ( $args )
    {
          array_shift( $args );
          $endofoptions = false;

          $ret = array
        (
            'commands' => array(),
            'options' => array(),
            'flags'    => array(),
            'arguments' => array(),
        );

      while (     $arg = array_shift($args) )
      {

            // if we have reached end of options,
        //we cast all remaining argvs as arguments
            if ($endofoptions)
        {
              $ret['arguments'][] = $arg;
          continue;
        }

            // Is it a command? (prefixed with --)
            if ( substr( $arg, 0, 2 ) === '--' )
        {

              // is it the end of options flag?
              if (!isset ($arg[3]))
          {
                $endofoptions = true;; // end of options;
                continue;
          }

              $value = "";
              $com   = substr( $arg, 2 );

              // is it the syntax '--option=argument'?
              if (strpos($com,'='))
            list(    $com,$value) = split("=",$com,2);

              // is the option not followed by another option but by arguments
              elseif (strpos($args[0],'-') !== 0)
          {
            while (    strpos($args[0],'-') !== 0)
                  $value .= array_shift($args).' ';
                $value = rtrim($value,' ');
          }

              $ret['options'][$com] = !empty($value) ? $value : true;
          continue;

        }

            // Is it a flag or a serial of flags? (prefixed with -)
            if ( substr( $arg, 0, 1 ) === '-' )
        {
          for (    $i = 1; isset($arg[$i]) ; $i++)
                $ret['flags'][] = $arg[$i];
          continue;
        }

            // finally, it is not option, nor flag, nor argument
            $ret['commands'][] = $arg;
        continue;
      }

      if (!    count($ret['options']) && !count($ret['flags']))
      {
            $ret['arguments'] = array_merge($ret['commands'], $ret['arguments']);
            $ret['commands'] = array();
      }
    return     $ret;
    }

    exit (    0)

    /* vim: set expandtab tabstop=2 shiftwidth=2: */
    ?>
    obfuscated at emailaddress dot com
    11 years ago
    This posting is not a php-only problem, but hopefully will save someone a few hours of headaches.  Running on MacOS (although this could happen on any *nix I suppose), I was unable to get the script to execute without specifically envoking php from the command line:

    [macg4:valencia/jobs] tim% test.php
    ./test.php: Command not found.

    However, it worked just fine when php was envoked on the command line:

    [macg4:valencia/jobs] tim% php test.php
    Well, here we are...  Now what?

    Was file access mode set for executable?  Yup.

    [macg4:valencia/jobs] tim% ls -l
    total 16
    -rwxr-xr-x  1 tim  staff   242 Feb 24 17:23 test.php

    And you did, of course, remember to add the php command as the first line of your script, yeah?  Of course.

    #!/usr/bin/php
    <?php print "Well, here we are...  Now what?\n"; ?>

    So why dudn't it work?  Well, like I said... on a Mac.... but I also occasionally edit the files on my Windows portable (i.e. when I'm travelling and don't have my trusty Mac available)...  Using, say, WordPad on Windows... and BBEdit on the Mac...

    Aaahhh... in BBEdit check how the file is being saved!  Mac?  Unix?  or Dos?  Bingo.  It had been saved as Dos format.  Change it to Unix:

    [macg4:valencia/jobs] tim% ./test.php
    Well, here we are...  Now what?
    [macg4:valencia/jobs] tim%

    NB: If you're editing your php files on multiple platforms (i.e. Windows and Linux), make sure you double check the files are saved in a Unix format...  those \r's and \n's 'll bite cha!
    eric dot brison at anakeen dot com
    8 years ago
    Just a variant of previous script to accept arguments with '=' also
    <?php
    function arguments($argv) {
            $_ARG = array();
        foreach (    $argv as $arg) {
          if (    ereg('--([^=]+)=(.*)',$arg,$reg)) {
                $_ARG[$reg[1]] = $reg[2];
          } elseif(    ereg('-([a-zA-Z0-9])',$arg,$reg)) {
                    $_ARG[$reg[1]] = 'true';
            }
      
        }
      return     $_ARG;
    }
    ?>
    $ php myscript.php --user=nobody --password=secret -p --access="host=127.0.0.1 port=456"
    Array
    (
        [user] => nobody
        [password] => secret
        [p] => true
        [access] => host=127.0.0.1 port=456
    )
    notreallyanaddress at somerandomaddr dot com
    6 years ago
    If you want to be interactive with the user and accept user input, all you need to do is read from stdin. 

    <?php
    echo "Are you sure you want to do this?  Type 'yes' to continue: ";
    $handle = fopen ("php://stdin","r");
    $line = fgets($handle);
    if(    trim($line) != 'yes'){
        echo     "ABORTING!\n";
        exit;
    }
    echo     "\n";
    echo     "Thank you, continuing...\n";
    ?>
    linn at backendmedia dot com
    12 years ago
    For those of you who want the old CGI behaviour that changes to the actual directory of the script use:
    chdir(dirname($_SERVER['argv'][0]));

    at the beginning of your scripts.
    ross at golder dot org
    6 years ago
    Note that parsing of the shebang line may not always work as expected...

    #!/usr/bin/php -dmemory_limit=512M -dsafe_mode=Off
    <?php

    print "memory_limit=".ini_get("memory_limit")."\n";
    print     "safe_mode=".ini_get("safe_mode")."\n";

    ?>

    gives...

    $ ./test.php
    PHP:  Invalid configuration directive
    memory_limit=512M -dsafe_mode
    safe_mode=
    Kodeart
    4 years ago
    Check directly without calling functions:
    <?php
    if (PHP_SAPI === 'cli')
    {
           // ...
    }
    ?>

    You can define a constant to use it elsewhere
    <?php
    define    ('ISCLI', PHP_SAPI === 'cli');
    ?>
    stromdotcom at hotmail dot com
    10 years ago
    Spawning php-win.exe as a child process to handle scripting in Windows applications has a few quirks (all having to do with pipes between Windows apps and console apps).

    To do this in C++:

    // We will run php.exe as a child process after creating
    // two pipes and attaching them to stdin and stdout
    // of the child process
    // Define sa struct such that child inherits our handles

    SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES sa = { sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES) };
    sa.bInheritHandle = TRUE;
    sa.lpSecurityDescriptor = NULL;

    // Create the handles for our two pipes (two handles per pipe, one for each end)
    // We will have one pipe for stdin, and one for stdout, each with a READ and WRITE end
    HANDLE hStdoutRd, hStdoutWr, hStdinRd, hStdinWr;

    // Now create the pipes, and make them inheritable
    CreatePipe (&hStdoutRd, &hStdoutWr, &sa, 0))
    SetHandleInformation(hStdoutRd, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0);
    CreatePipe (&hStdinRd, &hStdinWr, &sa, 0)
    SetHandleInformation(hStdinWr, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0);

    // Now we have two pipes, we can create the process
    // First, fill out the usage structs
    STARTUPINFO si = { sizeof(STARTUPINFO) };
    PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
    si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
    si.hStdOutput = hStdoutWr;
    si.hStdInput  = hStdinRd;

    // And finally, create the process
    CreateProcess (NULL, "c:\\php\\php-win.exe", NULL, NULL, TRUE, NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);

    // Close the handles we aren't using
    CloseHandle(hStdoutWr);
    CloseHandle(hStdinRd);

    // Now that we have the process running, we can start pushing PHP at it
    WriteFile(hStdinWr, "<?php echo 'test'; ?>", 9, &dwWritten, NULL);

    // When we're done writing to stdin, we close that pipe
    CloseHandle(hStdinWr);

    // Reading from stdout is only slightly more complicated
    int i;

    std::string processed("");
    char buf[128];

    while ( (ReadFile(hStdoutRd, buf, 128, &dwRead, NULL) && (dwRead != 0)) ) {
        for (i = 0; i < dwRead; i++)
            processed += buf[i];
    }   

    // Done reading, so close this handle too
    CloseHandle(hStdoutRd);

    A full implementation (implemented as a C++ class) is available at http://www.stromcode.com
    mortals at seznam dot cz
    7 years ago
    If a module SAPI is chosen during configure, such as apxs, or the --disable-cgi option is used, the CLI is copied to {PREFIX}/bin/php during make install  otherwise the CGI is placed there.

    versus

    Changed CGI install target to php-cgi and 'make install' to install CLI when CGI is selected. (changelog for 5.2.3)
    http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.2.3
    punk at studionew dot com
    12 years ago
    You can use this function to ask user to enter something.

    <?php
    function read ($length='255')
    {
       if (!isset (    $GLOBALS['StdinPointer']))
       {
              $GLOBALS['StdinPointer'] = fopen ("php://stdin","r");
       }
           $line = fgets ($GLOBALS['StdinPointer'],$length);
       return     trim ($line);
    }

    // then

    echo "Enter your name: ";
    $name = read ();
    echo     "\nHello $name! Where you came from? ";
    $where = read ();
    echo     "\nI see. $where is very good place.";
    ?>
    OverFlow636 at gmail dot com
    10 years ago
    I needed this, you proly wont tho.
    puts the exicution args into $_GET
    <?php
    if ($argv) {
        foreach (    $argv as $k=>$v)
        {
            if (    $k==0) continue;
                $it = explode("=",$argv[$i]);
            if (isset(    $it[1])) $_GET[$it[0]] = $it[1];
        }
    }
    ?>
    monte at ispi dot net
    12 years ago
    I had a problem with the $argv values getting split up when they contained plus (+) signs. Be sure to use the CLI version, not CGI to get around it.

    Monte
    PSIKYO at mail dot dlut dot edu dot cn
    2 years ago
    If you edit a php file in windows, upload and run it on linux with command line method. You may encounter a running problem probably like that:

    [root@ItsCloud02 wsdl]# ./lnxcli.php
    Extension './lnxcli.php' not present.

    Or you may encounter some other strange problem.
    Care the enter key. In windows environment, enter key generate two binary characters '0D0A'. But in Linux, enter key generate just only a 'OA'.
    I wish it can help someone if you are using windows to code php and run it as a command line program on linux.
    coffear at gmail dot com
    6 years ago
    In the notes it there is an example of running 1 line of PHP using:

    php -r 'print_r(get_defined_constants());'

    This might work on a UNIX machine but unfortunately on windows it produces the following error message:

    Parse error: parse error in Command line code on line 1

    Instead of using ' (single quotes) to encompass the PHP code use " (double quotes) instead. You can safely use ' within the code itself however such as:

    php -r "echo 'hello';"
    docey
    10 years ago
    dunno if this is on linux the same but on windows evertime
    you send somthing to the console screen php is waiting for
    the console to return. therefor if you send a lot of small
    short amounts of text, the console is starting to be using
    more cpu-cycles then php and thus slowing the script.

    take a look at this sheme:
    cpu-cycle:1 ->php: print("a");
    cpu-cycle:2 ->cmd: output("a");
    cpu-cycle:3 ->php: print("b");
    cpu-cycle:4 ->cmd: output("b");
    cpu-cycle:5 ->php: print("c");
    cpu-cycle:6 ->cmd: output("c");
    cpu-cylce:7 ->php: print("d");
    cpu-cycle:8 ->cmd: output("d");
    cpu-cylce:9 ->php: print("e");
    cpu-cycle:0 ->cmd: output("e");

    on the screen just appears "abcde". but if you write
    your script this way it will be far more faster:
    cpu-cycle:1 ->php: ob_start();
    cpu-cycle:2 ->php: print("abc");
    cpu-cycle:3 ->php: print("de");
    cpu-cycle:4 ->php: $data = ob_get_contents();
    cpu-cycle:5 ->php: ob_end_clean();
    cpu-cycle:6 ->php: print($data);
    cpu-cycle:7 ->cmd: output("abcde");

    now this is just a small example but if you are writing an
    app that is outputting a lot to the console, i.e. a text
    based screen with frequent updates, then its much better
    to first cach all output, and output is as one big chunk of
    text instead of one char a the time.

    ouput buffering is ideal for this. in my script i outputted
    almost 4000chars of info and just by caching it first, it
    speeded up by almost 400% and dropped cpu-usage.

    because what is being displayed doesn't matter, be it 2
    chars or 40.0000 chars, just the call to output takes a
    great deal of time. remeber that.

    maybe someone can test if this is the same on unix-based
    systems. it seems that the STDOUT stream just waits for
    the console to report ready, before continueing execution.
    me at unreal4u dot com
    4 years ago
    You could use the Linux way of knowing that everything went ok by dying with a numeric code: 0 if everything went ok and practically anything else if something goes terribly wrong. That way;

    <?php // hello.php
    echo 'hello';
    exit(    0);
    ?>
    <?php     // bye.php
    echo 'bye';
    exit(    1);
    ?>
    <?php     // hello-again.php
    echo 'hi world!';
    exit(    0);
    ?>

    calling:
    php hello.php && php bye.php && php hello-again.php

    would only execute the first two scripts, the last one doesn't get executed because an error ocurred in that script.

    Greetings.
    Alexander Plakidin
    13 years ago
    How to change current directory in PHP script to script's directory when running it from command line using PHP 4.3.0?
    (you'll probably need to add this to older scripts when running them under PHP 4.3.0 for backwards compatibility)

    Here's what I am using:
    chdir(preg_replace('/\\/[^\\/]+$/',"",$PHP_SELF));

    Note: documentation says that "PHP_SELF" is not available in command-line PHP scripts. Though, it IS available. Probably this will be changed in future version, so don't rely on this line of code...

    Use $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] instead of just $PHP_SELF if you have register_globals=Off
    Rizwan
    5 years ago
    A simple way to check if script is running from browser or cli.

    <?php
    if(defined('STDIN') )
      echo(    "Running from CLI");
    else
      echo(    "Not Running from CLI");
    ?>
    Anonymous
    5 years ago
    Using CLI (on WIN at least), some INI paths are relative to the current working directory.  For example, if your error_log = "php_errors.log", then php_errors.log will be created (or appended to if already exists) in whatever directory you happen to be in at the moment if you have write access there.  Instead of having random error logs all over the place because of this behavior, you may want to set error_log to a full path, perhaps to the php.exe directory.
    james_s2010 at NOSPAM dot hotmail dot com
    8 years ago
    I was looking for a way to interactively get a single character response from user. Using STDIN with fread, fgets and such will only work after pressing enter. So I came up with this instead:

    #!/usr/bin/php -q
    <?php
    function inKey($vals) {
            $inKey = "";
        While(!    in_array($inKey,$vals)) {
                $inKey = trim(`read -s -n1 valu;echo \$valu`);
        }
        return     $inKey;
    }
    function     echoAT($Row,$Col,$prompt="") {
            // Display prompt at specific screen coords
            echo "\033[".$Row.";".$Col."H".$prompt;
    }
            // Display prompt at position 10,10
            echoAT(10,10,"Opt : ");

            // Define acceptable responses
            $options = array("1","2","3","4","X");

            // Get user response
            $key = inKey($options);

            // Display user response & exit
            echoAT(12,10,"Pressed : $key\n");
    ?>

    Hope this helps someone.
    Willy T. Koch
    7 years ago
    I'm figuring out how to pipe an email to a php script with postfix. For the email user@example.com:

    I created the following line in /etc/aliases:
    user:        "|/www/file.php"

    file.php is chmod 755

    This works fine. But I wanted to test this without having to send an email every time. And this took some searching to figure out, yet it's oh-so simple:

    To pipe the file email.txt to the script, write the following in the terminal window:

    user@host: php file.php < testepost.txt

    I was confused by the | in the aliases file, and didn't get what came after what, etc etc.

    Regards,

    Willy T. Koch
    Norway
    Wade
    6 years ago
    I've just found that the fact that the CLI does *not* change the current directory will make include() and require() calls with relative paths fail. This is because they are relative to the current directory, not to the current executing file, the documentation notwithstanding. In CGI mode, this is the same because it changes the current directory.

    One solution is to call the CGI binary rather than the CLI one. A better solutions is to use dirname(__FILE__) in your path names.
    Anonymous
    8 years ago
    I find regex and manually breaking up the arguments instead of havingon $_SERVER['argv'] to do it more flexiable this way.

    cli_test.php asdf asdf --help --dest=/var/ -asd -h --option mew arf moo -z

        Array
        (
            [input] => Array
                (
                    [0] => asdf
                    [1] => asdf
                )

            [commands] => Array
                (
                    [help] => 1
                    [dest] => /var/
                    [option] => mew arf moo
                )

            [flags] => Array
                (
                    [0] => asd
                    [1] => h
                    [2] => z
                )

        )

    <?php

    function arguments ( $args )
    {
            array_shift( $args );
            $args = join( $args, ' ' );

            preg_match_all('/ (--\w+ (?:[= ] [^-]+ [^\s-] )? ) | (-\w+) | (\w+) /x', $args, $match );
            $args = array_shift( $match );

            /*
            Array
            (
                [0] => asdf
                [1] => asdf
                [2] => --help
                [3] => --dest=/var/
                [4] => -asd
                [5] => -h
                [6] => --option mew arf moo
                [7] => -z
            )
        */

            $ret = array(
                'input'    => array(),
                'commands' => array(),
                'flags'    => array()
        );

        foreach (     $args as $arg ) {

                // Is it a command? (prefixed with --)
                if ( substr( $arg, 0, 2 ) === '--' ) {

                    $value = preg_split( '/[= ]/', $arg, 2 );
                    $com   = substr( array_shift($value), 2 );
                    $value = join($value);

                    $ret['commands'][$com] = !empty($value) ? $value : true;
                continue;

            }

                // Is it a flag? (prefixed with -)
                if ( substr( $arg, 0, 1 ) === '-' ) {
                    $ret['flags'][] = substr( $arg, 1 );
                continue;
            }

                $ret['input'][] = $arg;
            continue;

        }

        return     $ret;
    }

    print_r( arguments( $argv ) );

    ?>
    lucas dot vasconcelos at gmail dot com
    8 years ago
    Just another variant of previous script that group arguments doesn't starts with '-' or '--'

    <?php
    function arguments($argv) {
            $_ARG = array();
        foreach (    $argv as $arg) {
          if (    ereg('--([^=]+)=(.*)',$arg,$reg)) {
                $_ARG[$reg[1]] = $reg[2];
          } elseif(    ereg('^-([a-zA-Z0-9])',$arg,$reg)) {
                    $_ARG[$reg[1]] = 'true';
          } else {
                    $_ARG['input'][]=$arg;
          }
        }
      return     $_ARG;
    }

    print_r(arguments($argv));
    ?>

    $ php myscript.php --user=nobody /etc/apache2/*
    Array
    (
        [input] => Array
            (
                [0] => myscript.php
                [1] => /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
                [2] => /etc/apache2/conf.d
                [3] => /etc/apache2/envvars
                [4] => /etc/apache2/httpd.conf
                [5] => /etc/apache2/mods-available
                [6] => /etc/apache2/mods-enabled
                [7] => /etc/apache2/ports.conf
                [8] => /etc/apache2/sites-available
                [9] => /etc/apache2/sites-enabled
            )

        [user] => nobody
    )
    phpnotes at ssilk dot de
    13 years ago
    To hand over the GET-variables in interactive mode like in HTTP-Mode (e.g. your URI is myprog.html?hugo=bla&bla=hugo), you have to call

    php myprog.html '&hugo=bla&bla=hugo'

    (two & instead of ? and &!)

    There just a little difference in the $ARGC, $ARGV values, but I think this is in those cases not relevant.
    php at schabdach dot de
    10 years ago
    To pass more than 9 arguments to your php-script on Windows, you can use the 'shift'-command in a batch file. After using 'shift', %1 becomes %0, %2 becomes %1 and so on - so you can fetch argument 10 etc.

    Here's an example - hopefully ready-to-use - batch file:

    foo.bat:
    ---------
    @echo off

    :init_arg
    set args=

    :get_arg
    shift
    if "%0"=="" goto :finish_arg
    set args=%args% %0
    goto :get_arg
    :finish_arg

    set php=C:\path\to\php.exe
    set ini=C:\path\to\php.ini
    %php% -c %ini% foo.php %args%
    ---------

    Usage on commandline:
    foo -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -foo -bar

    A print_r($argv) will give you all of the passed arguments.
    drewish at katherinehouse dot com
    10 years ago
    When you're writing one line php scripts remember that 'php://stdin' is your friend. Here's a simple program I use to format PHP code for inclusion on my blog:

    UNIX:
      cat test.php | php -r "print htmlentities(file_get_contents('php://stdin'));"

    DOS/Windows:
      type test.php | php -r "print htmlentities(file_get_contents('php://stdin'));"
    Anonymous
    7 years ago
    Here's  my modification of "thomas dot harding at laposte dot net" script (below) to read arguments from $argv of the form --name=VALUE and -flag.

    "Input":
    ./script.php -a arg1 --opt1 arg2 -bcde --opt2=val2 arg3 arg4 arg5 -fg --opt3

    "print_r Output":
    Array
    (
        [exec] => ./script.php
        [options] => Array
            (
                [0] => opt1
                [1] => Array
                    (
                        [0] => opt2
                        [1] => val2
                    )
                [2] => opt3
            )
        [flags] => Array
            (
                [0] => a
                [1] => b
                [2] => c
                [3] => d
                [4] => e
                [5] => f
                [6] => g
            )
        [arguments] => Array
            (
                [0] => arg1
                [1] => arg2
                [2] => arg3
                [3] => arg4
                [4] => arg5
            )
    )

    <?php
    function arguments($args ) {
            $ret = array(
                'exec'      => '',
                'options'   => array(),
                'flags'     => array(),
                'arguments' => array(),
        );

            $ret['exec'] = array_shift( $args );

        while ((    $arg = array_shift($args)) != NULL) {
                // Is it a option? (prefixed with --)
                if ( substr($arg, 0, 2) === '--' ) {
                    $option = substr($arg, 2);

                    // is it the syntax '--option=argument'?
                    if (strpos($option,'=') !== FALSE)
                        array_push( $ret['options'], explode('=', $option, 2) );
                else
                        array_push( $ret['options'], $option );
               
                continue;
            }

                // Is it a flag or a serial of flags? (prefixed with -)
                if ( substr( $arg, 0, 1 ) === '-' ) {
                for (    $i = 1; isset($arg[$i]) ; $i++)
                        $ret['flags'][] = $arg[$i];

                continue;
            }

                // finally, it is not option, nor flag
                $ret['arguments'][] = $arg;
            continue;
        }
        return     $ret;
    }    //function arguments
    ?>
    losbrutos at free dot fr
    8 years ago
    an another "another variant" :

    <?php
    function arguments($argv)
    {
          $_ARG = array();
      foreach (    $argv as $arg)
      {
        if (    preg_match('#^-{1,2}([a-zA-Z0-9]*)=?(.*)$#', $arg, $matches))
        {
              $key = $matches[1];
          switch (    $matches[2])
          {
            case     '':
            case     'true':
                  $arg = true;
              break;
            case     'false':
                  $arg = false;
              break;
            default:
                  $arg = $matches[2];
          }
              $_ARG[$key] = $arg;
        }
        else
        {
              $_ARG['input'][] = $arg;
        }
      }
      return     $_ARG;
    }
    ?>

    $php myscript.php arg1 -arg2=val2 --arg3=arg3 -arg4 --arg5 -arg6=false

    Array
    (
        [input] => Array
            (
                [0] => myscript.php
                [1] => arg1
            )

        [arg2] => val2
        [arg3] => arg3
        [arg4] => true
        [arg5] => true
        [arg5] => false
    )
    bluej100@gmail
    8 years ago
    In 5.1.2 (and others, I assume), the -f form silently drops the first argument after the script name from $_SERVER['argv']. I'd suggest avoiding it unless you need it for a special case.
    Jouni
    9 years ago
    I had a problem with PHP 5.2.0 (cli) (winXP) that no output was printed when I tried to run any file. Using the -n switch solved the problem.

    Apparently the interpreter can't always find php.ini, even though both exist in the same folder and the PATH variable is set correctly. No error messages were printed either.
    linus at flowingcreativity dot net
    10 years ago
    If you are using Windows XP (I think this works on 2000, too) and you want to be able to right-click a .php file and run it from the command line, follow these steps:

    1. Run regedit.exe and *back up the registry.*
    2. Open HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and find the ".php" key.

    IF IT EXISTS:
    ------------------
    3. Look at the "(Default)" value inside it and find the key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT with that name.
    4. Open the "shell" key inside that key. Skip to 8.

    IF IT DOESN'T:
    ------------------
    5. Add a ".php" key and set the "(Default)" value inside it to something like "phpscriptfile".
    6. Create another key in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT called "phpscriptfile" or whatever you chose.
    7. Create a key inside that one called "shell".

    8. Create a key inside that one called "run".
    9. Set the "(Default)" value inside "run" to whatever you want the menu option to be (e.g. "Run").
    10. Create a key inside "run" called "command".
    11. Set the "(Default)" value inside "command" to:

    cmd.exe /k C:\php\php.exe "%1"

    Make sure the path to PHP is appropriate for your installation. Why not just run it with php.exe directly? Because you (presumably) want the console window to remain open after the script ends.

    You don't need to set up a webserver for this to work. I downloaded PHP just so I could run scripts on my computer. Hope this is useful!
    jgraef at users dot sf dot net
    9 years ago
    Hi,
    This function clears the screen, like "clear screen"

    <?php
          function clearscreen($out = TRUE) {
            $clearscreen = chr(27)."[H".chr(27)."[2J";
        if (    $out) print $clearscreen;
        else return     $clearscreen;
      }
    ?>
    Anonymous
    9 years ago
    It seems like 'max_execution_time' doesn't work on CLI.

    <?php
    php     -d max_execution_time=20
                -r '$foo = ini_get("max_execution_time"); var_dump($foo);'
    ?>
    will print string(2) "20", but if you'l run infinity while: while(true) for example, it wouldn't stop after 20 seconds.
    Testes on Linux Gentoo, PHP 5.1.6.
    dino (at) asttra (dot) com (dot) br
    8 years ago
    For those who was unable to clear the windows screen trying to run CLS command:

    CLS is not an windows executable file! It is an option from command.com!

    So, the rigth command is

       system("command /C cls");
    rh@hdesigndotdemondotcodotuk
    11 years ago
    In a bid to save time out of lives when calling up php from the Command Line on Mac OS X.

    I just wasted hours on this. Having written a routine which used the MCRYPT library, and tested it via a browser, I then set up a crontab to run the script from the command line every hour (to do automated backups from mysql using mysqldump, encrypt them using mcrypt, then email them and ftp them off to remote locations).

    Everything worked fine from the browser, but failed every time from the cron task with "Call to undefined function: mcrypt [whatever]".

    Only after much searching do I realise that the CGI and CLI versions are differently compiled, and have different modules attached (I'm using the entropy.ch install for Mac OS-X, php v4.3.2 and mysql v4.0.18).

    I still can not find a way to resolve the problem, so I have decided instead to remove the script from the SSL side of the server, and run it using a crontab with CURL to localhost or 127.0.0.1 in order that it will run through Apache's php module.

    Just thought this might help some other people tearing their hair out. If anyone knows a quick fix to add the mcrypt module onto the CLI php without any tricky re-installing, it'd be really helpful.

    Meantime the workaround does the job, not as neatly though.
    hobby6_at_hotmail.com
    9 years ago
    On windows, you can simulate a cls by echoing out just \r.  This will keep the cursor on the same line and overwrite what was on the line.

    for example:

    <?php
            echo "Starting Iteration" . "\n\r";
        for (    $i=0;$i<10000;$i++) {
            echo     "\r" . $i;
        }
        echo     "Ending Iteration" . "\n\r";
    ?>
    Anonymous
    4 years ago
    Instead of all these long and .. interesting .. ways to check if you're running from cli, you could always do this:

    <?php
    function isCli() {
        return     php_sapi_name()==="cli";
    }
    ?>
    diego dot rodrigues at poli dot usp dot br
    10 years ago
    #!/usr/bin/php -q
    <?php
    /**********************************************
    * Simple argv[] parser for CLI scripts
    * Diego Mendes Rodrigues - S�o Paulo - Brazil
    * diego.m.rodrigues [at] gmail [dot] com
    * May/2005
    **********************************************/

    class arg_parser {
        var     $argc;
        var     $argv;
        var     $parsed;
        var     $force_this;

        function     arg_parser($force_this="") {
            global     $argc, $argv;
                $this->argc = $argc;
                $this->argv = $argv;
                $this->parsed = array();
           
                array_push($this->parsed,
                               array(    $this->argv[0]) );

            if ( !empty(    $force_this) )
                if (     is_array($force_this) )
                        $this->force_this = $force_this;

                //Sending parameters to $parsed
                if ( $this->argc > 1 ) {
                for(    $i=1 ; $i< $this->argc ; $i++) {
                        //We only have passed -xxxx
                        if ( substr($this->argv[$i],0,1) == "-" ) {
                            //Se temos -xxxx xxxx
                            if ( $this->argc > ($i+1) ) {
                            if (     substr($this->argv[$i+1],0,1) != "-" ) {
                                    array_push($this->parsed,
                                    array(    $this->argv[$i],
                                            $this->argv[$i+1]) );
                                    $i++;
                                continue;
                            }
                        }
                    }
                        //We have passed -xxxxx1 xxxxx2
                        array_push($this->parsed,
                                                      array(    $this->argv[$i]) );
                }
            }

                        //Testing if all necessary parameters have been passed
                        $this->force();
        }

            //Testing if one parameter have benn passed
            function passed($argumento) {
            for(    $i=0 ; $i< $this->argc ; $i++)
                if (     $this->parsed[$i][0] == $argumento )
                    return     $i;
            return     0;
        }

            //Testing if you have passed a estra argument, -xxxx1 xxxxx2
            function full_passed($argumento) {
                $findArg = $this->passed($argumento);
            if (     $findArg )
                if (     count($this->parsed[$findArg] ) > 1 )
                    return     $findArg;
            return     0;
        }

                //Returns  xxxxx2 at a " -xxxx1 xxxxx2" call
            function get_full_passed($argumento) {
                        $findArg = $this->full_passed($argumento);

                    if (     $findArg )
                        return     $this->parsed[$findArg][1];

                    return;
            }
       
            //Necessary parameters to script
            function force() {
            if (     is_array( $this->force_this ) ) {
                for(    $i=0 ; $i< count($this->force_this) ; $i++) {
                    if (     $this->force_this[$i][1] == "SIMPLE"
                             && !$this->passed($this->force_this[$i][0])
                    )
                        die(    "\n\nMissing " . $this->force_this[$i][0] . "\n\n");

                                    if (     $this->force_this[$i][1] == "FULL"
                                             && !$this->full_passed($this->force_this[$i][0])
                    )
                                            die(    "\n\nMissing " . $this->force_this[$i][0] ." <arg>\n\n");
                }
            }
        }
    }

    //Example
    $forcar = array(
            array(    "-name", "FULL"),
            array(    "-email","SIMPLE") );

    $parser = new arg_parser($forcar);

    if (     $parser->passed("-show") )
        echo     "\nGoing...:";

    echo     "\nName: " . $parser->get_full_passed("-name");

    if (     $parser->full_passed("-email") ) 
        echo     "\nEmail: " . $parser->get_full_passed("-email");
    else
            echo     "\nEmail: default";

    if (     $parser->full_passed("-copy") )
            echo     "\nCopy To: " . $parser->get_full_passed("-copy");

    echo     "\n\n";
    ?>

    TESTING
    =====
    [diego@Homer diego]$ ./en_arg_parser.php -name -email cool -copy Ana

    Missing -name <arg>

    [diego@Homer diego]$ ./en_arg_parser.php -name diego -email cool -copy Ana

    Name: diego
    Email: cool
    Copy To: Ana

    [diego@Homer diego]$ ./en_arg_parser.php -name diego -email  -copy Ana

    Name: diego
    Email: default
    Copy To: Ana

    [diego@Homer diego]$ ./en_arg_parser.php -name diego -email

    Name: diego
    Email: default

    [diego@Homer diego]$
    Ben Jenkins
    11 years ago
    This took me all day to figure out, so I hope posting it here saves someone some time:
    Your PHP-CLI may have a different php.ini than your apache-php.  For example: On my Debian-based system, I discovered I have /etc/php4/apache/php.ini and /etc/php4/cli/php.ini
    If you want MySQL support in the CLI, make sure the line
    extension=mysql.so
    is not commented out.
    The differences in php.ini files may also be why some scripts will work when called through a web browser, but will not work when called via the command line.
    patrick smith
    7 years ago
    For command-line option definition and parsing, don't forget about the beauty of getopt().

    There's a php-native version (http://php.net/getopt) and a PEAR package -- Console_GetOpt (http://pear.php.net/package/Console_Getopt).
    tom at thomas dot harding dot net
    7 years ago
    To allow a "zero" option value:

    replace:

    $ret['options'][$com] = !empty($value) ? $value : true;

    by:

    $ret['options'][$com] = (strlen($value) > 0 ? $value : true);

    In the sample below.

    Thanks to Chris Chubb to point me out the problem
    phpNOSPAM at dogpoop dot cjb dot net
    13 years ago
    Here are some instructions on how to make PHP files executable from the command prompt in Win2k.  I have not tested this in any other version of Windows, but I'm assuming it will work in XP, but not 9x/Me.

    There is an environment variable (control panel->system->advanced->environment variables) named PATHEXT.  This is a list of file extensions Windows will recognize as executable at the command prompt.  Add .PHP (or .PL, or .CLASS, or whatever) to this list.  Windows will use the default action associated with that file type when you execute it from the command prompt.

    To set up the default action:
    Open Explorer.
    Go to Tools->folder options->file types
    Find the extension you're looking for.  If it's not there, click New to add it.
    Click on the file type, then on Advanced, then New.
    For the action, type "Run" or "Execute" or whatever makes sense.
    For the application, type
      {path to application} "%1" %*
    The %* will send any command line options that you type to the program.
    The application field for PHP might look like
      c:\php\php.exe -f "%1" -- %*
    (Note, you'll probably want to use the command line interface version php-cli.exe)
    or for Java
      c:\java\java.exe "%1" %*
    Click OK.
    Click on the action that was just added, then click Set default.

    If this helps you or if you have any changes/more information I would appreciate a note.  Just remove NOSPAM from the email address.
    kazink at gmail dot com
    6 years ago
    I had problems running php as CGI in thttpd. I have followed instructions posted by db at digitalmediacreation dot ch, but I was still getting "500 Internal Error" answer from the server. However, I had no problems running php as CLI using a simple wrapper file named index.cgi:

    #!/usr/bin/php
    <?php
          require_once 'index.php';
    ?>

    but i needed to pass user data through GET and POST, and this method couldn't handle it. I have spent 2 hours figuring out how to run the CGI mode properly, until I finally gave up, and done it in "manual" way. I have just added some code to the wrapper that reads GET and POST data into the proper variables:

    #!/usr/bin/php
    <?php

          //parse the command line into the $_GET variable
          parse_str($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], $_GET);
     
          //parse the standard input into the $_POST variable
          if (($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST')
       && (    $_SERVER['CONTENT_LENGTH'] > 0))
      {
            parse_str(fread(STDIN, $_SERVER['CONTENT_LENGTH']), $_POST);
      }

      require_once     'index.php';
    ?>

    It works well for me. It may be useful if someone else have similar problem.
    earomero _{at}_ gmail.com
    8 years ago
    Here's <losbrutos at free dot fr> function modified to support unix like param syntax like <B Crawford> mentions:

    <?php
    function arguments($argv) {
            $_ARG = array();
        foreach (    $argv as $arg) {
            if (    preg_match('#^-{1,2}([a-zA-Z0-9]*)=?(.*)$#', $arg, $matches)) {
                    $key = $matches[1];
                switch (    $matches[2]) {
                    case     '':
                    case     'true':
                        $arg = true;
                    break;
                    case     'false':
                        $arg = false;
                    break;
                    default:
                        $arg = $matches[2];
                }
               
                    /* make unix like -afd == -a -f -d */           
                    if(preg_match("/^-([a-zA-Z0-9]+)/", $matches[0], $match)) {
                        $string = $match[1];
                    for(    $i=0; strlen($string) > $i; $i++) {
                            $_ARG[$string[$i]] = true;
                    }
                } else {
                        $_ARG[$key] = $arg;   
                }           
            } else {
                    $_ARG['input'][] = $arg;
            }       
        }
        return     $_ARG;   
    }
    ?>

    Sample:

    eromero@ditto ~/workspace/snipplets $ foxogg2mp3.php asdf asdf --help --dest=/var/ -asd -h
    Array
    (
        [input] => Array
            (
                [0] => /usr/local/bin/foxogg2mp3.php
                [1] => asdf
                [2] => asdf
            )

        [help] => 1
        [dest] => /var/
        [a] => 1
        [s] => 1
        [d] => 1
        [h] => 1
    )
    ben-php dot net at wefros dot com
    13 years ago
    PHP 4.3 and above automatically have STDOUT, STDIN, and STDERR openned ... but < 4.3.0 do not.  This is how you make code that will work in versions previous to PHP 4.3 and future versions without any changes:

    <?php
            if (version_compare(phpversion(),'4.3.0','<')) {
                define('STDIN',fopen("php://stdin","r"));
                define('STDOUT',fopen("php://stout","r"));
                define('STDERR',fopen("php://sterr","r"));
                register_shutdown_function( create_function( '' , 'fclose(STDIN); fclose(STDOUT); fclose(STDERR); return true;' ) );
        }

    /* get some STDIN up to 256 bytes */
            $str = fgets(STDIN,256);
    ?>
    ken.gregg at rwre dot com
    11 years ago
    If you want to use named command line parameters in your script,
    the following code will parse command line parameters in the form
    of name=value and place them in the $_REQUEST super global array.

    cli_test.php
    <?php

    echo "argv[] = ";
    print_r($argv);  // just to see what was passed in

    if ($argc > 0)
    {
      for (    $i=1;$i < $argc;$i++)
      {
            parse_str($argv[$i],$tmp);
            $_REQUEST = array_merge($_REQUEST, $tmp);
      }
    }

    echo     "\$_REQUEST = ";
    print_r($_REQUEST);

    ?>

    rwre:~/tmp$ /usr/local/bin/php cli_test.php foo=1 bar=2 third=a+value

    argv[] = Array
    (
        [0] => t.php
        [1] => foo=1
        [2] => bar=2
        [3] => third=a+value
    )
    $_REQUEST = Array
    (
        [foo] => 1
        [bar] => 2
        [third] => a value
    )
    ca at php dot spamtrak dot org
    6 years ago
    I append this to most of my PHP files, to allow command line unit testing of a class.  It ensures that the unit test is only run if the script is run directly, and won't be triggered by an include from another CLI script.

    <?php
    if (!empty($argc) && strstr($argv[0], basename(__FILE__))) {
           $test = new TestClass();
           $rv = $test->Test();
       die(    "Test returned $rv\n");
    }
    ?>
    technorati at gmail dot com
    8 years ago
    Here's an update to the script a couple of people gave below to read arguments from $argv of the form --name=VALUE and -flag. Changes include:

    Don't use $_ARG - $_ is generally considered reserved for the engine.
    Don't use regex where a string operation will do just as nicely
    Don't overwrite --name=VALUE with -flag when 'name' and 'flag' are the same thing
    Allow for VALUE that has an equals sign in it

    <?php
    function arguments($argv) {
            $ARG = array();
        foreach (    $argv as $arg) {
            if (    strpos($arg, '--') === 0) {
                    $compspec = explode('=', $arg);
                    $key = str_replace('--', '', array_shift($compspec));
                    $value = join('=', $compspec);
                    $ARG[$key] = $value;
            } elseif (    strpos($arg, '-') === 0) {
                    $key = str_replace('-', '', $arg);
                if (!isset(    $ARG[$key])) $ARG[$key] = true;
            }
        }
        return     $ARG;
    }
    ?>
    c dot kelly[no--spam] at qfsaustrlia dot com dot au
    13 years ago
    In Windows [NT4.0 sp6a] the example
    php -r ' echo getcwd();' does not work ; It appears you have to use the following php -r "echo getcwd();" --not the " around the command   to get the output to screen , just took me half an hour to figure out what was going on.
    dj dot rokx at gmail dot com
    6 years ago
    Use PHP as Scripting Language in Windows Vista and 7:

    ASSOC .phs=PHPScript
    FTPYE PHPScript=[path to]\php.exe -f "%1" -- %*

    optional set PATHEXT=.phs;%PATHEXT%

    now you can execute any php-script (ext: .phs) from the shell like a .vbs or .cmd.

    "c:\testscript.phs arg1 arg2" or with the optional step "c:\testscript arg1 arg2"

    i hope this helps somebody.
    justin at visunet dot ie
    13 years ago
    If you are trying to set up an interactive command line script and you want to get started straight away (works on 4+ I hope). Here is some code to start you off:

    <?php

            // Stop the script giving time out errors..
            set_time_limit(0);

            // This opens standard in ready for interactive input..
            define('STDIN',fopen("php://stdin","r"));

            // Main event loop to capture top level command..
            while(!0)
        {
           
                // Print out main menu..
                echo "Select an option..\n\n";
            echo     "    1) Do this\n";
            echo     "    2) Do this\n";
            echo     "    3) Do this\n";
            echo     "    x) Exit\n";

                // Decide what menu option to select based on input..
                switch(trim(fgets(STDIN,256)))
            {
                case     1:
                    break;
                   
                case     2:
                    break;

                case     3:
                    break;

                case     "x":
                    exit();
                   
                default:
                    break;
            }

        }

            // Close standard in..
            fclose(STDIN);

    ?>
    zager[..A..T..]teleaction.de
    13 years ago
    Under Solaris (at least 2.6) I have some problems with reading stdin. Original pbms report may be found here:
    http://groups.google.com/groups?
    q=Re:+%5BPHP%5D+Q+on+php://stdin+--+an+answer!&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-
    8&oe=UTF-8&selm=3C74AF57.6090704%40Sun.COM&rnum=1

    At a first glance the only solution for it is 'fgetcsv'

    #!/usr/local/bin/php -q
    <?php

    set_magic_quotes_runtime    (0);
    $fd=fopen("php://stdin","r");
    if (!    $fd)
      exit;

    while (!    feof ($fd))
    {
          $s = fgetcsv($fd,128,"\n");
      if (    $s==false)
        continue;

      echo     $s[0]."\n";
    }
    ?> 

    But... keep reading....

    >>> I wrote
    Hello,
    Sometimes I hate PHP... ;)

    Right today I was trapped by some strange bug in my code with reading stdin using fgetcsv.
    After a not small investigation I found that strings like "foo\nboo\ndoo"goo\n (take note of double quatation sign in it)
    interpreted by fgetcsv like:
    1->foo\nboo\ndoo
    2->goo
    since double quotation mark has a special meaning and get stripped off of the input stream.
    Indeed, according to PHP manual:
    [quote]
    array fgetcsv ( int fp, int length [, string delimiter [, string enclosure]])

    [skip]
    another delimiter with the optional third parameter. _The_enclosure_character_is_double_quote_,_unless_
    it_is_specified_.
    [skip]
    _enclosure_is_added_from_PHP 4.3.0.       !!!!!!
    [/quote]

    Means no chance for us prior to 4.3.0 :(
    But file() works just fine !!!! Of course by the price of memory, so be careful with large files.

    set_magic_quotes_runtime(0); // important, do not forget it !!!
    $s=file("php://stdin");
    for ($i=0,$n=sizeof($s);$i<$n;$i++)
    {
      do_something_useful(rtrim($s[$i]));
    }

    Conclusion:
    1. If you have no double quotation mark in your data use fgetcsv
    2. From 4.3.0 use   fgetcsv($fd,"\n",""); // I hope it will help
    3. If you data is not huge use file("php://stdin");

    Hope now it's cleared for 100% (to myself ;)

    Good luck!
    Dim

    PS. Don't forget that it's only Solaris specific problem. Under Linux just use usual fgets()...
    db at digitalmediacreation dot ch
    11 years ago
    A very important point missing here (I lost hours on it and hope to avoid this to you) :

    * When using PHP as CGI
    * When you just become crazy because of "No input file specified" appearing on the web page, while it never appears directly in the shell

    Then I have a solution for you :

    1. Create a script for example called cgiwrapper.cgi
    2. Put inside :
    #!/bin/sh -
    export SCRIPT_FILENAME=/var/www/realpage.php
    /usr/bin/php -f $SCRIPT_FILENAME
    3. Name your page realpage.php

    For example with thttpd the problem is that SCRIPT_FILENAME is not defined, while PHP absolutely requires it.
    My solution corrects that problem !
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