PHP 7.0.6 Released

register_shutdown_function

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

register_shutdown_functionRegister a function for execution on shutdown

Description

void register_shutdown_function ( callable $callback [, mixed $parameter [, mixed $... ]] )

Registers a callback to be executed after script execution finishes or exit() is called.

Multiple calls to register_shutdown_function() can be made, and each will be called in the same order as they were registered. If you call exit() within one registered shutdown function, processing will stop completely and no other registered shutdown functions will be called.

Parameters

callback

The shutdown callback to register.

The shutdown callbacks are executed as the part of the request, so it's possible to send output from them and access output buffers.

parameter

It is possible to pass parameters to the shutdown function by passing additional parameters.

...

Return Values

No value is returned.

Errors/Exceptions

If the passed callback is not callable a E_WARNING level error will be generated.

Examples

Example #1 register_shutdown_function() example

<?php
function shutdown()
{
    
// This is our shutdown function, in 
    // here we can do any last operations
    // before the script is complete.

    
echo 'Script executed with success'PHP_EOL;
}

register_shutdown_function('shutdown');
?>

Notes

Note:

Working directory of the script can change inside the shutdown function under some web servers, e.g. Apache.

Note:

Shutdown functions will not be executed if the process is killed with a SIGTERM or SIGKILL signal. While you cannot intercept a SIGKILL, you can use pcntl_signal() to install a handler for a SIGTERM which uses exit() to end cleanly.

See Also

User Contributed Notes

jules at sitepointAASASZZ dot com
12 years ago
If your script exceeds the maximum execution time, and terminates thusly:

Fatal error: Maximum execution time of 20 seconds exceeded in - on line 12

The registered shutdown functions will still be executed.

I figured it was important that this be made clear!
http://livejournal.com/~sinde1/
10 years ago
If you want to do something with files in function, that registered in register_shutdown_function(), use ABSOLUTE paths to files instead of relative. Because when script processing is complete current working directory chages to ServerRoot (see httpd.conf)
sts at mail dot xubion dot hu
12 years ago
If you need the old (<4.1) behavior of register_shutdown_function you can achieve the same with "Connection: close" and "Content-Length: xxxx" headers if you know the exact size of the sent data (which can be easily caught with output buffering).
An example:
<?php
header
("Connection: close");
ob_start();
phpinfo();
$size=ob_get_length();
header("Content-Length: $size");
ob_end_flush();
flush();
sleep(13);
error_log("do something in the background");
?>

The same will work with registered functions.
According to http spec, browsers should close the connection when they got the amount of data specified in Content-Length header. At least it works fine for me in IE6 and Opera7.
ravenswd at gmail dot com
6 years ago
You may get the idea to call debug_backtrace or debug_print_backtrace from inside a shutdown function, to trace where a fatal error occurred. Unfortunately, these functions will not work inside a shutdown function.
dweingart at pobox dot com
10 years ago
I have discovered a change in behavior from PHP 5.0.4 to PHP 5.1.2 when using a shutdown function in conjunction with an output buffering callback.

In PHP 5.0.4 (and earlier versions I believe) the shutdown function is called after the output buffering callback.

In PHP 5.1.2 (not sure when the change occurred) the shutdown function is called before the output buffering callback.

Test code:
<?php
function ob_callback($buf) {
   
$buf .= '<li>' . __FUNCTION__ .'</li>';
    return
$buf;
}

function
shutdown_func() {
    echo
'<li>' . __FUNCTION__ .'</li>';
}

ob_start('ob_callback');
register_shutdown_function('shutdown_func');
echo
'<ol>';
?>

PHP 5.0.4:

1. ob_callback
2. shutdown_func

PHP 5.1.2:

1. shutdown_func
2. ob_callback
adam at saki dot com dot au
13 years ago
When using objects the syntax register_shutdown_function(array($object, 'function')) will take a copy of the object at the time of the call.  This means you cannot do this in the constructor and have it correctly destruct objects.  The alternative is to use register_shutdown_function(array(&$object, 'function')) where the ampersand passes the reference and not the copy.  This appears to work fine.
Ant P.
6 years ago
As of PHP 5.3.0, the last note about unpredictable working directory also applies to FastCGI, when previously it didn't.
clover at fromru dot com
5 years ago
If you register function that needs to be running last (for example, close database connection) - just register another shutdown function from shutdown function:
<?php
function test1(){
 
register_shutdown_function('test_last');
}

function
test2(){/*...*/}
function
test3(){/*...*/}
function
test_last(){/*...*/}

register_shutdown_function('test1');
register_shutdown_function('test2');
register_shutdown_function('test3');
?>

the script will call functions in correct order: test1, test2, test3, test_last
Filip Dalge
6 years ago
The following function register_close_function should reproduce the former php behavior of closing the connection before executing the shutdown handler, based on the code posted by sts at mail dot xubion dot hu. It does not work on any machine.

<?php
function register_close_function($func) {
 
register_close_function::$func = $func;
 
register_shutdown_function(array("register_close_function", "close"));
 
ob_start();
}
class
register_close_function {
 
// just a container
 
static $func;
  function
close() {
   
header("Connection: close");
   
$size = ob_get_length();
   
header("Content-Length: $size");
   
ob_end_flush();
   
flush();
   
call_user_func(register_close_function::$func);
  }
}
?>
david dot schueler at tel-billig dot de
5 years ago
I had a problem when forking a child process and accessing the variables by using the "global" keyword in the shutdown function.
So i used another way for getting the variables to the shutdown function: I passed them by reference.

Example:
<?php
function shutdown_function (&$test) {
    echo
__FUNCTION__.'(): $test = '.$test."\n";
}

$test = 1;
register_shutdown_function('shutdown_function', &$test);
echo
'$test = '.$test."\n";

// do some stuff and change the variable values
$test = 2;

// now the shutdown function gets called
exit(0);
?>

Maybe tis helps someone. (I'm using PHP 5.2.11)
pgl at yoyo dot org
6 years ago
You definitely need to be careful about using relative paths in after the shutdown function has been called, but the current working directory doesn't (necessarily) get changed to the web server's ServerRoot - I've tested on two different servers and they both have their CWD changed to '/' (which isn't the ServerRoot).

This demonstrates the behaviour:

<?php
function echocwd() { echo 'cwd: ', getcwd(), "\n"; }

register_shutdown_function('echocwd');
echocwd() and exit;
?>

Outputs:

cwd: /path/to/my/site/docroot/test
cwd: /

NB: CLI scripts are unaffected, and keep their CWD as the directory the script was called from.
sezer yalcin
10 years ago
re:codeslinger at compsalot dot com

fork() is actually creating 2 processes from one. So there is no surprise register_shutdown_function will be executed per each process.

I think you have reported this as a bug and now in php 5.1.0 when you exit from child process, it does not execute it. Well, what are you going to do if you have something to register for forked process?

I hope php will be more stable near soon!

codeslinger at compsalot dot com
03-Feb-2005 09:22
Here is a nice little surprise to keep in mind...

If you register a shutdown function for your main program.  And then you fork() a child.

Guess What?
When the child exits it will run the code that was intended for the main program.  This can be a really bad thing  ;-)

Happily there is a simple work-around.  All you need to do is to create a global variable such as:

$IamaChild = [TRUE | FALSE];

and have your shutdown function check the value...
Anonymous
13 years ago
When using CLI ( and perhaps command line without CLI - I didn't test it) the shutdown function doesn't get called if the process gets a SIGINT or SIGTERM. only the natural exit of PHP calls the shutdown function.
To overcome the problem compile the command line interpreter with --enable-pcntl and add this code:

<?php
function sigint()
{
    exit;
}
pcntl_signal(SIGINT, 'sigint');
pcntl_signal(SIGTERM, 'sigint');
?>

This way when the process recieves one of those signals, it quits normaly, and the shutdown function gets called.
Note: using the pcntl function in web server envoirment is considered problematic, so if you are writing a script that runs both from the command line and from the server, you should put some conditional code around that block that identifies wheater this is a command line envoirment or not.
m dot agkopian at gmail dot com
2 years ago
Use this small snippet inside your bootstrap in order to always have a way to know reliably what was the last page of your site that the user have visited, without having to use $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'].

<?php
session_start
();

// Get current page
$current_page = htmlspecialchars($_SERVER['SCRIPT_NAME'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
$current_page .= $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'] ? '?'.htmlspecialchars($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8') : '';

// Set previous page at the end
register_shutdown_function(function ($current_page) {
   
$_SESSION['previous_page'] = $current_page;
},
$current_page);
?>
emanueledelgrande ad email dot it
5 years ago
A lot of useful services may be delegated to this useful trigger.
It is very effective because it is executed at the end of the script but before any object destruction, so all instantiations are still alive.

Here's a simple shutdown events manager class which allows to manage either functions or static/dynamic methods, with an indefinite number of arguments without using any reflection, availing on a internal handling through func_get_args() and call_user_func_array() specific functions:

<?php
// managing the shutdown callback events:
class shutdownScheduler {
    private
$callbacks; // array to store user callbacks
   
   
public function __construct() {
       
$this->callbacks = array();
       
register_shutdown_function(array($this, 'callRegisteredShutdown'));
    }
    public function
registerShutdownEvent() {
       
$callback = func_get_args();
       
        if (empty(
$callback)) {
           
trigger_error('No callback passed to '.__FUNCTION__.' method', E_USER_ERROR);
            return
false;
        }
        if (!
is_callable($callback[0])) {
           
trigger_error('Invalid callback passed to the '.__FUNCTION__.' method', E_USER_ERROR);
            return
false;
        }
       
$this->callbacks[] = $callback;
        return
true;
    }
    public function
callRegisteredShutdown() {
        foreach (
$this->callbacks as $arguments) {
           
$callback = array_shift($arguments);
           
call_user_func_array($callback, $arguments);
        }
    }
   
// test methods:
   
public function dynamicTest() {
        echo
'_REQUEST array is '.count($_REQUEST).' elements long.<br />';
    }
    public static function
staticTest() {
        echo
'_SERVER array is '.count($_SERVER).' elements long.<br />';
    }
}
?>

A simple application:

<?php
// a generic function
function say($a = 'a generic greeting', $b = '') {
    echo
"Saying {$a} {$b}<br />";
}

$scheduler = new shutdownScheduler();

// schedule a global scope function:
$scheduler->registerShutdownEvent('say', 'hello!');

// try to schedule a dyamic method:
$scheduler->registerShutdownEvent(array($scheduler, 'dynamicTest'));
// try with a static call:
$scheduler->registerShutdownEvent('scheduler::staticTest');

?>

It is easy to guess how to extend this example in a more complex context in which user defined functions and methods should be handled according to the priority depending on specific variables.

Hope it may help somebody.
Happy coding!
Tim
2 years ago
register_shutdown_function seems to be immune to whatever value was set with set_time_limit or the max_execution_time value defined in php.ini.
<?php
function asdf() {
    echo
microtime(true) . '<br>';
   
sleep(1);
    echo
microtime(true) . '<br>';
   
sleep(1);
    echo
microtime(true) . '<br>';
}
register_shutdown_function('asdf');
set_time_limit(1);

while(
true) {}
?>
The output is three lines.
alexyam at live dot com
4 years ago
When using php-fpm, fastcgi_finish_request() should be used instead of register_shutdown_function() and exit()

For example, under nginx and php-fpm 5.3+, this will make browsers wait 10 seconds to show output:

<?php
   
echo "You have to wait 10 seconds to see this.<br>";
   
register_shutdown_function('shutdown');
    exit;
    function
shutdown(){
       
sleep(10);
        echo
"Because exit() doesn't terminate php-fpm calls immediately.<br>";
    }
?>

This doesn't:

<?php
   
echo "You can see this from the browser immediately.<br>";
   
fastcgi_finish_request();
   
sleep(10);
    echo
"You can't see this form the browser.";
?>
phpmanual at NO_SPHAMnetebb dot com
12 years ago
Given this code:

<?php
class CallbackClass {
    function
CallbackFunction() {
       
// refers to $this
   
}

    function
StaticFunction() {
       
// doesn't refer to $this
   
}
}

function
NonClassFunction() {
}
?>

there appear to be 3 ways to set a callback function in PHP (using register_shutdown_function() as an example):

1: register_shutdown_function('NonClassFunction');

2: register_shutdown_function(array('CallbackClass', 'StaticFunction'));

3: $o =& new CallbackClass();
   register_shutdown_function(array($o, 'CallbackFunction'));

The following may also prove useful:

<?php
class CallbackClass {
    function
CallbackClass() {
       
register_shutdown_function(array(&$this, 'CallbackFunction')); // the & is important
   
}
   
    function
CallbackFunction() {
       
// refers to $this
   
}
}
?>
codeslinger at compsalot dot com
11 years ago
Here is a nice little surprise to keep in mind...

If you register a shutdown function for your main program.  And then you fork() a child.

Guess What?
When the child exits it will run the code that was intended for the main program.  This can be a really bad thing  ;-)

Happily there is a simple work-around.  All you need to do is to create a global variable such as:

$IamaChild = [TRUE | FALSE];

and have your shutdown function check the value...
buraks78 at gmail dot com
8 years ago
Read the post regarding the change of working directory to ServerRoot carefully. This means that require_once "path/to/script" (or similar constructs) with relative paths will not work in shutdown functions.
Ldkronos
9 years ago
It's already been discussed on the zlib page ( http://www.php.net/zlib ), but hasn't been mention here...

When zlib compression is enabled, register_shutdown_function doesn't work properly. Anything output from your shutdown function will not be readable by the browser. Firefox just ignores it. IE6 will show you a blank page.

The workaround that worked for me is to add the following to the top of the script.
ini_set('zlib.output_compression', 0);
php at spandex dot deleteme dot nildram dot co dot uk
13 years ago
I've had immense trouble getting any of the examples of emulated destructors to work.  They always seemed to have a copy of the object just after initialisation.  Many people mention that the register_shutdown_function will take a copy of the object rather than a reference... and this can be cured with an ampersand.  If you look in the PEAR docs for the way they emulate destructors you'll find that you also need one before the "new" statement when you create an instance of your object.  There's an editors note above that mentions this too... but I thought I'd collect it all here in one example that really works.  Honest... I'm using it (PHP 4.3.1):

<?php
class Object {
    var
$somevar = "foo";

    function
Object() {
       
$somevar = "bar";
       
register_shutdown_function(array(&$this, 'MyDestructor'));
    }

    function
MyDestructor() {
       
# Do useful destructor stuff here...
   
}
}

# Now create the object as follows and then 'MyDestructor'
# will be called on shutdown and will be able to operate on
# the object as it ended up... not as it started!
$my_object =& new Object;
?>
Jim Smith
12 years ago
I was trying to figure out how to pass parameters to the register_shutdown_function() since you cannot register a function with parameters and passing through globals is not appropriate. E.g. what I was trying to do was  <? register_shutdown_function("anotherfunction('parameter')") ?>
Turns out, the trick is to use create_function() to create a "function" that calls the desired function with static parameters.

<?php
$funtext
="mail('u@ho.com','mail test','sent after shutdown');";
register_shutdown_function(create_function('',$funtext));
?>

Here's another example showing in-line logging and a post-execution version:

Before: in-process logging

<?php
function logit($message) {
  
$oF=fopen('TEST.log', 'a');
  
fwrite($oF,"$message\n");
  
fclose($oF);
  
sleep(5);  // so you can see the delay
}
print
"loging";
logit("traditional execution");
print
"logged";
exit;
?>
After:

<?php
function logit($message) {
  
$forlater=create_function('',"loglater('$message');");
  
register_shutdown_function($forlater);
}
function
loglater($message) {
  
$oF=fopen('TEST.log', 'a');
  
fwrite($oF,"$message\n");
  
fclose($oF);
  
sleep(5);  // so you can see the delay
}
print
"loging";
logit("delayed execution");
print
"logged";
exit;
?>

In the 'before' example, the file is written (and the delay occurs) before the "logged" appears. In the 'after' example, the file is written after execution terminates.

Maybe it would be nice to add a parameter to the register_shutdown_function that does this automatically?
RLK
7 years ago
Contrary to the the note that "headers are always sent" and some of the comments below - You CAN use header() inside of a shutdown function as you would anywhere else; when headers_sent() is false. You can do custom fatal handling this way:

<?php
ini_set
('display_errors',0);
register_shutdown_function('shutdown');

$obj = new stdClass();
$obj->method();

function
shutdown()
{
  if(!
is_null($e = error_get_last()))
  {
   
header('content-type: text/plain');
    print
"this is not html:\n\n". print_r($e,true);
  }
}
?>
priebe at mi-corporation dot com
14 years ago
Note that register_shutdown_function() does not work under Apache on Windows platforms.  Your shutdown function will be called, but the connection will not close until the processing is complete.  Zend tells me that this is due to a difference between Apache for *nix and Apache for Windows.

I'm seeing similar behavior under IIS (using php4isapi).
matteosistisette at gmail dot com
3 years ago
In PHP 5.1.6 things don't work as described here.

The truth is that connection_status() just always returns 0 whether or not the client has aborted (e.g. the user hit the stop button), and that (consistently with this) the registered shutdown function will only be called on exit, but NOT when the connection is aborted from the user.

That is, PHP does NOT detect when the connection is aborted.
Anonymous
6 years ago
Note that if the handler function is private static it will never be called! It must be public!
sander @ unity-x
5 years ago
simple method to disconnect the client and continue processing:

<?php
function endOutput($endMessage){
   
ignore_user_abort(true);
   
set_time_limit(0);
   
header("Connection: close");
   
header("Content-Length: ".strlen($endMessage));
    echo
$endMessage;
    echo
str_repeat("\r\n", 10); // just to be sure
   
flush();
}

// Must be called before any output
endOutput("thank you for visiting, have a nice day');

sleep(100);
mail("
you@yourmail.com", "ping", "i'm here");
?>
jawsper at aximax dot nl
6 years ago
Something found out during testing:

the ini auto_append_file will be included BEFORE the registered function(s) will be called.
Anonymous
6 years ago
Note that in the various solutions presented here, a call to ob_start() at the begining of a script and a flush at the end will defeat any optimisation attempt to return large files in chunks (custom code or readfile). i.e. don't use ob_start if you are going to return large files you will simply bust the memory limit.
Sinured
8 years ago
You can use a static method of a class as a shutdown function without passing an instance. I think that doesn't make too much sense, however it's possible.

<?php
register_shutdown_function
('someClass::someMethod');
?>

If this method is *NOT* static, then PHP will complain about an invalid callback instead of just emitting an E_STRICT error.
michaeln at associationsplus dawt see eh
6 years ago
This may seem obvious to many people, but don't register an object's __destruct() function as a shutdown function! In many instances, it will then call the destructor twice, most likely on an already destroyed object! For example, you might get this error:

PHP Warning:  mysqli::close() [<a href='function.mysqli-close'>function.mysqli-close</a>]: Couldn't fetch mysqli in /path/to/file.php

I saw docey's comment from 2006 in this very page where they do just that, and this more often than not cause problems!

It would be wise to look out for old code where someone has done that very thing then too!
SonOfTron
7 years ago
You can achieve similar results by using auto_append_file in the php.ini or .htaccess file:
(php.ini)
auto_append_file = /my-auto-append-file.php
(.htaccess)
php_value auto_append_file /my-auto-append-file.php
www dot php dot net at spam dot monnard dot org
12 years ago
Response to => vbwebprofi at gmx dot de 22-Nov-2003 03:12

You have to do a changement on the object to see the difference between = and =&

Here is your code modified to see the difference.
The modification of the code are essentially the var $Value_changed and the function change().
I have tested it under RedHat 9 with PHP 4.2.2

--8<--- cls_TEST.php --------------------------------------------->8--
<?php
class TEST {
    var
$Value;
    var
$Value_changed;

   
// Constructor

   
function TEST($in_Value = 0){
       
// Register destructor
       
register_shutdown_function(array(&$this, '_TEST'));
       
       
$this->Value = $in_Value;
       
$this->Value_changed = $in_Value;
       
$this->_Log('TEST');
    }
   
   
// Destructor
   
function _TEST() {
       
$this->_Log('_TEST');
    }
   
   
// Private function
   
function _Log($in_Msg) {
       
$oF = fopen('/tmp/TEST.log', 'a');
       
fwrite($oF, sprintf("%s : %-5s = %d ; %d\n",
                           
date('Y-m-d H:i:s', time()),
                           
$in_Msg,
                           
$this->Value,
                           
$this->Value_changed));
       
fclose($oF);
    }
   
   
// Function change()
   
function change() {
       
$this->Value_changed++;
       
$this->_Log('change');
    }
}
?>
--8<--- test_TEST.php -------------------------------------------->8--
<?php
   
// include class TEST
   
include_once('cls_TEST.php');
   
    echo
"New...<br>\n";
   
$o1 =  new TEST(1);
   
$o2 =& new TEST(2);
   
# Strange declaration :
   
$o3 &= new TEST(3);
   
    echo
"Sleep...<br>\n";
   
sleep(5);
   
    echo
"Change...<br>\n";
   
$o1->change();
   
$o2->change();
   
# The following line doesn't work !
    #$o3->change();
   
   
echo "Sleep...<br>\n";
   
sleep(5);
   
    echo
"End.";
?>
--8<-------------------------------------------------------------->8--

It should produce a content like this in the file, specified in the _Log function :

2003-12-02 04:22:55 : TEST  = 1 ; 1
2003-12-02 04:22:55 : TEST  = 2 ; 2
2003-12-02 04:22:55 : TEST  = 3 ; 3
2003-12-02 04:23:01 : change = 1 ; 2
2003-12-02 04:23:01 : change = 2 ; 3
2003-12-02 04:23:06 : _TEST = 1 ; 1
2003-12-02 04:23:06 : _TEST = 2 ; 3
2003-12-02 04:23:06 : _TEST = 3 ; 3
kwazy at php dot net
13 years ago
One more note to add about register_shutdown_function and objects.

It is possible to self-register the object from the constructor, but even using the syntax:
register_shutdown_function(array(&$this,'shutdown'))

will only result in the function being called with the object in the "just initialized" state, any changes made to the object after construction will not be there when the script actually exits.

But if you use:

<?php
$obj
= new object();
register_shutdown_function(array(&$obj,'shutdown'));
?>

the object method 'shutdown' will be called with the current state of the object intact.

[Editor's note: The explanation for this behavior is really simple.
"$obj = new object()" creates a copy of the object which you can refer with $this in the object's constructor.
To solve this "problem" you should use "$obj = &new object()" which assign the reference to the current object.]
Fuzika
8 years ago
Sinured's example of how to use a static method did not work for me.
But this did:

<?php
register_shutdown_function
(array('theClass','theStaticMethod'));
?>

Hope this helps someone.

[EDIT by danbrown AT php DOT net: This example did not work for the author of this note because it is written for PHP 5.  The author was using PHP 4.]
me at thomaskeller dot biz
10 years ago
Well, it might be obvious, but one should remember that one cannot send any HTTP header in the shutdown callback.

Something like

<?php

function redirect()
{
    
header("Location: myuri.php");
}

register_shutdown_function("redirect");

// do something useful here

?>

doesn't work and PHP sends out the popular "headers already sent" warning.

I tried to set a redirection target somewhere in the script, but wanted to make sure that it was only set/executed at the very end of the script, since my custom redirect function also cleaned any output buffers at that point. Well, no luck here =)
miguelangel dot nubla at gmail dot com
1 year ago
Quick note: As of PHP 5.5.11 this function ignores current namespace and 'use' statements so it is mandatory to use the fully qualified name of the function in the callback parameter
xcl_rockman at qq dot com
7 months ago
for static call
register_shutdown_function(function () {
                demo::shutdownFunc();
});
Bob
6 years ago
A note about error management.
If you like to use the boolean 'or' operator for error detection, like this:
<?php
register_shutdown_function
('my_shutdown_function') or
    throw new
Exception("Could not register shutdown function");
?>
it won't work.
This function always returns void which == false, so the exception will *always* be thrown.
Error reporting is integrated into the function.
cFreed at orange dot fr
7 years ago
May be obvious for most people, but I spent time to clearly understand something which is only INDIRECTLY mentioned by the manual, so I hope this useful for someones.

Pay attention to the function prototype: the $function argument is a callback one (follow the link for more information).
This means that you must write this argument differently depending on the $function context:
. function-name, as a string, when it is a built-in or user-defined function
. array(class-name, method-name), when it is an object method
James Wyse (James [at] tastyspoon.com)
12 years ago
Just a note to say that if your function uses paths relative to the script you are running (ie. for reading files, "../dir/" etc) then your function may not work correctly when registered as a shutdown function. I'm not sure where the 'working dir' IS when running a shutdown function but I find it best to use absolute paths ("/home/www/dir/").
kenneth dot kalmer at gmail dot com
10 years ago
I performed two tests on the register_shutdown_function() to see under what conditions it was called, and if a can call a static method from a class. Here are the results:

<?php
/**
* Tests the shutdown function being able to call a static methods
*/
class Shutdown
{
    public static function
Method ($mixed = 0)
    {
       
// we need absolute
       
$ap = dirname (__FILE__);
       
$mixed = time () . " - $mixed\n";
       
file_put_contents ("$ap/shutdown.log", $mixed, FILE_APPEND);
    }
}
// 3. Throw an exception
register_shutdown_function (array ('Shutdown', 'Method'), 'throw');
throw new
Exception ('bla bla');

// 2. Use the exit command
//register_shutdown_function (array ('Shutdown', 'Method'), 'exit');
//exit ('exiting here...')

// 1. Exit normally
//register_shutdown_function (array ('Shutdown', 'Method'));
?>

To test simply leave one of the three test lines uncommented and execute. Executing bottom-up yielded:

1138382480 - 0
1138382503 - exit
1138382564 - throw

HTH
Niels Ganser <php dot comment at depoll dot de>
10 years ago
Just a quick note: from 5.0.5 on objects will be unloaded _before_ your shutdown function is called which means you can't use previously initiated objects (such as mysqli).

See bug 33772 for more information.
php at kevin dot offwhite dot net
11 years ago
Various commenters have described how this function doesn't work for time-consuming background processing, because the webpage doesn't close the connection.  The workaround using output buffering and header('Connection: close'); seems to work, but the solution I prefer is to put the background processing in a separate script which gets included as a transparent gif. 

<?php

 
//logger.php -- does the time-consuming log_it() function

 
function log_it()
  {
   
sleep(12); //simulate long processing
   
error_log('log_it() completed'); 
  }

 
error_reporting(0);
 
register_shutdown_function('log_it');
 
header('Cache-Control: no-cache');
 
header('Content-type: image/gif');

 
//the size of the unencoded transparent gif
 
header('Content-length: 85');

 
//1x1 pixel transparent gif
 
print base64_decode('R0lGODlhAQABALMAAAAAAIAAAACAA'.
                      
'ICAAAAAgIAAgACAgMDAwICAgP8AAA'.
                      
'D/AP//AAAA//8A/wD//wBiZCH5BAE'.
                      
'AAA8ALAAAAAABAAEAAAQC8EUAOw==');

 
flush();
  exit;
 

?>

@-----------Page you want to add background processing to ---------@
<html>
<body>
<h1>Hello World</h1>

<!-- Call logger.php to do background processing -->
<img src="logger.php" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" />

</body>
</html>
@------------------------------------------------------------------@

The only caveat is, of course, if the user has images turned off then the script won't be called.  Tested successfully with IE6, Firefox 0.8, and Opera 7.11
astrolox at lawyersonline dot co dot uk
12 years ago
When using the register_shutdown_function command in php 4. The registered functions are called in the order that you register them.

This is important to note if you are doing database work using classes that register shutdown functions for themselves.

You must register the shutdown_functions in the order that you want things to shutdown. ( ie the database needs to shutdown last )

Example of what will not work but what you might expect to work :

<?php
class database {

        function
database() {
                echo
"connect to sql server -- (database :: constructor)<br>\n";
               
register_shutdown_function( array( &$this, "phpshutdown" ) );
               
$this->connected = 1;
        }
       
        function
do_sql( $sql ) {
                if (
$this->connected == 1 ) {
                        echo
"performing sql -- (database :: do_sql)<br>\n";
                } else {
                        echo
" ERROR -- CAN NOT PERFORM SQL -- NOT CONNECTED TO SERVER -- (database :: do_sql)<br>\n";
                }
        }
       
        function
phpshutdown() {
                echo
"close connection to sql server -- <b>(database :: shutdown)</b><br>\n";
               
$this->connected = 0;
        }      
}

class
table {
       
        function
table( &$database, $name ) {
               
$this->database =& $database;
               
$this->name = $name;
                echo
"read table data using database class -- name=$this->name -- (table :: constructor)<br>\n";
               
register_shutdown_function( array( &$this, "phpshutdown" ) );
               
$this->database->do_sql( "read table data" );
        }
       
        function
phpshutdown() {
                echo
"save changes to database -- name=$this->name -- <b>(table :: shutdown)</b><br>\n";
               
$this->database->do_sql( "save table data" );
        }
}

$db =& new database();

$shoppingcard =& new table( &$db, "cart " );
?>

Output of the above example is :-

connect to sql server -- (database :: constructor)
read table data using database class -- name=cart -- (table :: constructor)
performing sql -- (database :: do_sql)
close connection to sql server -- (database :: shutdown)
save changes to database -- name=cart -- (table :: shutdown)
ERROR -- CAN NOT PERFORM SQL -- NOT CONNECTED TO SERVER -- (database :: do_sql)
gabe at websaviour dot com
12 years ago
It should be noted that register_shutdown_function() does not guarantee that the connection will be closed before executing the function.  In particular on Apache 1.3.27 w/ PHP 4.3.0 on OS X as well as Apache 1.3.22 w/ PHP 4.1.2 on Red Hat I have discovered that Apache does not close the connection until after the registered shutdown function has completed execution.  I am not sure what the circumstances that cause this are, but there is a bug at http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=20447

This is important, because as far as I can tell, the documented functionality of register_shutdown_function() is the *ONLY* way to achieve anything resembling asynchronous processing with PHP in a web server environment.  In my mind this is a severe limitation, because if you have some processing intensive task that needs to be done and you want to do it in PHP, there is no way to have it occur without an accompanying wait in a browser window.  Sure you can use ignore_user_abort() to ensure that processing doesn't get cancelled by an impatient user (or impatient browser for that matter), but usability is still compromised.
michael at onlinecity dot dk
10 years ago
Note that under Windows 2003/IIS6 and PHP5 5.1.2 ISAPI the register_shutdown_function executes under IUSR_, regardless of what user the script executes under.
This means that even if you use Application Pools and NETWORK SERVICE as user, shutdown functions will run under the default IIS user.
ealexs at gmail dot com
2 years ago
If you use register_shutdown_function under fastCGI (using php 5.4.4, Apache 2.2/Debian) and the user clicks cancel request in the browser register_shutdown_function will not be called.
My solution was to use ignore_user_abort(true) to ignore the user abort.
Example (you may test request abort in the browser with and without ignore_user_abort):

<?php

   
// use this to make sure the shutdown function will be called
   
ignore_user_abort(true);

   
$f = fopen("debug.out.txt", "wt");

    function
qShutdown()
    {
        global
$f;
       
       
// use __DIR__ as the shutdown it's not invoke under the same folder
       
file_put_contents(__DIR__. "/qShutdown.txt", "qShutdown called");
       
       
fwrite($f, "I was called\n");
       
fclose($f);

        echo
"I was called\n";
    }

   
register_shutdown_function("qShutdown");
   
   
// do some random stuff

   
echo "things were executed\n";
   
fwrite($f, "things were executed\n");
   
fflush($f);
   
   
$n = 10;
   
$i = 0;
    while (
$i < $n)
    {
       
sleep(1);
       
$i++;
       
        echo
"Working {$i} ...\n";
       
fwrite($f, "Working {$i} ...\n");
       
fflush($f);
       
       
ob_flush();
       
flush();
       
ob_flush();
    }
   
   
fwrite($f, "die called\n");
   
fflush($f);
   
    die(
"die called\n");

?>
boutell round-about boutell dhot com
8 years ago
According to tests shown in this comment on the PHP5 deconstructor page:

http://us3.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.decon.php#76710

Functions registered with register_shutdown_function are called before deconstructors, at least as of PHP 5.2.1. This contradicts an earlier commenter who claims that objects cannot be utilized in functions called from register_shutdown_function. This is good news for those who want to use register_shutdown_function to work around the (fairly nasty) problems with using objects in a session write handler.
dcez at land dot ru
8 years ago
This simple function (i gues)  is for measuring page generation time in microseconds, using earlier mentioned register_shutdown_function...

Here is an example:

<?php
set_time_limit
(0);

function
check_time($time_str, $end = false){

    global
$start; //Need some global variable where we will ceep our start time

   
list($msec, $sec) = explode(' ', $time_str);
   
$result = bcadd($msec, $sec, 10);

    if(!
$end){

       
$start = $result;
       
register_shutdown_function('check_time', microtime(), 'true'); //Function registrates itself only with some parametrs now

   
}elseif($end){

       
$end = $result;
        echo
'<br />Page was generated in '.bcsub($end, $start, 10).' seconds...<br />';

    }

}

check_time(microtime()); //Caling our function once!

//Doing some job which we will measure...

$fd = fopen('users.txt', 'r');
while(!
feof($fd)){
   
$buffer .= fread($fd, 1024);
}
fclose($fd);

?>

As you see may be its large, but you dont have to call "check_time" function twice, in the start and at the end of the script, as many users usually do...
docey
9 years ago
if you want to make use of php5 __construct and _destruct functionality this functions is your rescue.

so say you have a class called 'fiveclass', you need some code like this:

<?php
class fiveclass
{

  function
fiveclass()
  {
   return
$this->__construct(); // forward php4 to __construct
 
}

  function
__construct()
  {
   
// register __destruct method as shutdown function
   
register_shutdown_function(array(&$this, "__destruct"));

   return
true;
  }

  function
__destruct()
  {
   
// finish what where doing;
   
close_db();
   
flush_output();
   
write_cache_away();

   return
true;
  }

}

$obj = new fiveclass();
?>

now you have the same functionality. __destruct is automaticly called at the end of your script.
morphling at quick dot cz
10 years ago
There is a note "Shutdown function is called during the script shutdown so headers are always already sent.", but my php 5.1 seems to act differently.
Example:
<?php
class Test {
   
    private
$running;
   
    public function
main() {
       
$this->running = true;
       
ob_start();
       
error_reporting(E_ALL);
       
register_shutdown_function(array($this, "clean_exit"));
        echo
"Hello";
       
// triggers E_ERROR
       
$fatal->error();
       
       
$this->running = false;   
    }

    public function
clean_exit() {
        if (
$this->running) {
           
header("Location: error.php");   
        }   
    }
}
$t = new Test();
$t->main();
?>
This example redirects you on error.php, this could be a simple way to handle E_ERROR.
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