   #PHP Manual Program Execution functions proc_nice proc_terminate

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                                   proc_open

   (PHP 4 >= 4.3.0)
   proc_open --  Execute a command and open file pointers for
   input/output

Description

   resource proc_open ( string cmd, array descriptorspec, array pipes)

   proc_open() is similar to popen() but provides a much greater degree
   of control over the program execution. cmd is the command to be
   executed by the shell. descriptorspec is an indexed array where the
   key represents the descriptor number and the value represents how PHP
   will pass that descriptor to the child process. pipes will be set to
   an indexed array of file pointers that correspond to PHP's end of any
   pipes that are created. The return value is a resource representing
   the process; you should free it using proc_close() when you are
   finished with it.

   <?php
   $descriptorspec = array(
      0 => array("pipe", "r"),  // stdin is a pipe that the child will
   read from
      1 => array("pipe", "w"),  // stdout is a pipe that the child will
   write to
      2 => array("file", "/tmp/error-output.txt", "a") // stderr is a
   file to write to
   );
   $process = proc_open("php", $descriptorspec, $pipes);
   if (is_resource($process)) {
       // $pipes now looks like this:
       // 0 => writeable handle connected to child stdin
       // 1 => readable handle connected to child stdout
       // Any error output will be appended to /tmp/error-output.txt
       fwrite($pipes[0], "<?php echo \"Hello World!\"; ?>");
       fclose($pipes[0]);
       while (!feof($pipes[1])) {
           echo fgets($pipes[1], 1024);
       }
       fclose($pipes[1]);
       // It is important that you close any pipes before calling
       // proc_close in order to avoid a deadlock
       $return_value = proc_close($process);
       echo "command returned $return_value\n";
   }
   ?>

   The file descriptor numbers in descriptorspec are not limited to 0, 1
   and 2 - you may specify any valid file descriptor number and it will
   be passed to the child process. This allows your script to
   interoperate with other scripts that run as "co-processes". In
   particular, this is useful for passing passphrases to programs like
   PGP, GPG and openssl in a more secure manner. It is also useful for
   reading status information provided by those programs on auxiliary
   file descriptors.

     Note: Windows compatibility: Descriptors beyond 2 (stderr) are made
     available to the child process as inheritable handles, but since
     the Windows architecture does not associate file descriptor numbers
     with low-level handles, the child process does not (yet) have a
     means of accessing those handles. Stdin, stdout and stderr work as
     expected.

     Note: If you only need a uni-directional (one-way) process pipe,
     use popen() instead, as it is much easier to use.

   See also stream_select(), exec(), system(), passthru(), popen(),
   escapeshellcmd(), and the backtick operator.
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