Run a text file

[newbiePHP]

Hey Guys,

 

I've written a program that searchs through a directory and finds a particular file.

 

Now, all i want to do is simply run that file as if i double clicked the mouse on it and it opened.

 

I don't want to read in the file or do anything with it, just run it.

 

I've tried exec commands and Fopen but no joy so far.

 

Any help would be great, thanks.

 

NewbiePHP

[Prismatic]

You can't run an application on a user's computer through PHP, this includes opening text files. exec() and system() both act locally on the server.

[kbh43dz_u]

do you want to get it opened in your browser? or how do you want to "run" it. what should it be good for? do you mean that the browser doesn't show the download-dialog but just opens the file?

[newbiePHP]

Prismatic,

 

thanks for the reply

 

ok....is there anyway around this at all?

 

maybe some kind of run command or anything really?

 

 

[Prismatic]

Well what are you trying to do exactly?

[kbh43dz_u]

oh, you meant you want to run a file on the client side. No, of course there is NO WAY to do this. This would be a really heavy security issue. PHP can only work on the server side. Just javascript can operate on the client side, but unless there is a big bug you cant access files. javascript operates in a so called "sandbox", there is (should be) no way out - and so it should be.

 

kind regards

[newbiePHP]

I've included the code below. It search the directory for "Example.jpg" or "Example.gif" or "Example.txt".

 

When it finds one of them I just want it to open that file and show it to me.

 

It searches it fine and can find the file but struggling to find a way to open that file.

 

<?php

if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {	
$FindFile=$_POST['FindFile'];
}

$directory = 'C:/College Work/'; //trailing slash
$wtlf = 'Example'; //what to look for

$flag = false;
$ext = array( '.jpg' , '.gif' , '.txt' );
for( $i = 0; count( $ext ) > $i; $i++ )
{
     if( file_exists( $directory . $FindFile . $ext[$i] ) )
     {
          $flag = true;
          $name = $directory . $FindFile . $ext[$i];
          break;
     }
}

if( $flag == true )
{
//open the file. NOTE: below does not work. tried putting fopen instead of exec but still wouldn't open the file
     exec('$name') or exit("Unable to open file!");
     
}
?>

[newbiePHP]

vamosbenediktm,

 

i'm not dealing with client/ servers. This program is only running on my laptop to search my directorys

[Prismatic]

<?php

if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {    
$FindFile=$_POST['FindFile'];
}

$directory = 'C:/College Work/'; //trailing slash
$wtlf = 'Example'; //what to look for

$flag = false;
$ext = array( '.jpg' , '.gif' , '.txt' );
for( $i = 0; count( $ext ) > $i; $i++ )
{
     if( file_exists( $directory . $FindFile . $ext[$i] ) )
     {
        if($ext[$i] == ".jpg" || $ext[$i] == ".gif")
        {
            echo( "<img src=\"". $directory . $FindFile . $ext[$i] ."\">" );
        }
        else
        {
            echo( $directory . $FindFile . $ext[$i] ); 
        } 
        break;
     }
}
?>

[newbiePHP]

Thanks Prismatic thats great.

 

but what if it is a text file?

[thebadbad]

Out of curiosity, I tried to open a text file with notepad (I'm on Windows):

 

<?php
exec('notepad nameoftextfile.txt');
?>

 

And it worked fine. The script keeps loading until you've closed notepad though.

[newbiePHP]

thebadbad,

 

Thanks for the help.

 

I tried this but the notepad file never actual opened.

 

exec('notepad C:/College Work/Example.txt');

 

Is there somehthing wrong with my code that i can't see?

[thebadbad]

It must be the space in the path, try

 

exec('notepad "C:/College Work/Example.txt"');

[kbh43dz_u]

maybe the space!

[Prismatic]

Thanks Prismatic thats great.

 

but what if it is a text file?

 

It just dumps the contents to the browser, as most browsers will just display the contents of the text file.

 

[thebadbad]

It just dumps the contents to the browser, as most browsers will just display the contents of the text file.

 

Wouldn't you need to do a header redirect to the file? Your script above only echoes the path when it's a txt file.

 

Edit: In Firefox, local files are accessed with "file:///" in front of the path.

[newbiePHP]

That didn't work either. I tried a different file with no spaces in the name but it didn't work either.

 

I just kept loading without actual opening the notepad file

 

Thanks for all the help by the way

[Prismatic]

It just dumps the contents to the browser, as most browsers will just display the contents of the text file.

 

Wouldn't you need to do a header redirect to the file? Your script above only echoes the path when it's a txt file.

 

Edit: In Firefox, local files are accessed with "file:///" in front of the path.

 

oh my, you're right lol

 

 

[thebadbad]

newbiePHP, if you press Windows-key + R, and type "notepad" and press OK, does Notepad open? If not, try calling it by the absolute path. Something like

 

<?php
exec('C:/WINDOWS/notepad.exe');
?>

[newbiePHP]

thebadbad,

 

Yep it opens and if i type in the path in the run command box(C:/College Work/Example.txt) that opens the text file to.

 

can't figure out why it won't do it in the script

[thebadbad]

Could be your firewall blocking your server from opening it. My firewall asked for permission when I first tried.

[newbiePHP]

Nope no firewalls or servers. This is all running on my laptop. The scirpt is searching for the file on my hard drive

[thebadbad]

I know, by server I meant your computer (acting like a server). You have no firewall??

[corbin]

When PHP runs under Apache, and Apache is a service, you have to allow Apache to interact with the desktop before PHP can do somethings...

 

Are you running PHP under Apache?

[newbiePHP]

oh right sorry.

 

i was thinking along the same lines as you about them interfering so I turned them of for few mins