Exec function terminates??

[usher_raymond82]

Hi folks,

 

I notice that the code after my exec function doesnt get executed. Example.

 

$file = fopen("$bat_file", "w");

fwrite($file, 'cd C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\cgi-bin

start ABC.exe '.$config.'

exit

');

fclose($file);

exec("cmd.exe /c $bat_file");

 

echo "Batch file complete";

 

I notice the batch file does run, but the msg after the exec function does not get printed at my browser. Does that mean the whole PHP script is terminated??

 

May I know what is wrong?

[.josh]

does the batch file complete it's run? because unless you redirect the output of the file to some other file or stream it will cause php to be put on hold until it's done..so it might be timing out your script

[usher_raymond82]

Yes it does. the ABC.exe will download some files and place those files in a certain directory. I can see those 3 files.

 

When you say output of the file, do you mean the output of the batch file or the output of ABC.exe?

[DarkWater]

The output of the whole process. 

 

 

P.S: Lol@windows. =P

[usher_raymond82]

So you are suggesting I should actually

 

exec("cmd.exe /c $bat_file", $output, $return); ????

[.josh]

should you? I have no idea what your batch file is supposed to be doing or your script's intentions.

[usher_raymond82]

I am writing a PHP script that needs to interface to the ABC.exe application which is going to download information from a server.

 

That is why I created a batch file, that has the commands to invoke ABC.exe to do its job.

 

With that, I tried using the exec function to start executing the batch file.

 

Once ABC.exe has done its job, I can see information (in .txt) downloaded and placed on my desktop.

 

The strange thing is, I somehow realised that the code after the exec() does not run....regardless how long / short the ABC.exe takes to do its job.

 

Am I using the exec function in a wrong way?

[thebadbad]

Just be sure that ABC.exe is terminated, in order for the script to finish (is my guess).

[usher_raymond82]

It should be terminated. ABC.exe appears when the batch file runs and then goes away in the Task Manager when completes.

[thebadbad]

Does the script appear to 'hang' when it's loaded, or does it finish loading?

[usher_raymond82]

It appears to hang, behavior is something like waiting for ABC.exe to finish dowlonading its files.

[thebadbad]

You could try to remove the

 

start ABC.exe '.$config.' 

 

line, to see if it's ABC.exe halting the script.

[.josh]

does php have read permissions for cmd.exe? simplest way to do that is to make a copy of it in php.exe's directory.

[usher_raymond82]

You could try to remove the

 

start ABC.exe '.$config.' 

 

line, to see if it's ABC.exe halting the script.

 

Yes. When I remove the line, the echo msg does get printed. In other words, I changed my code to

 

$file = fopen("$bat_file", "w");

fwrite($file, 'cd C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\cgi-bin

exit

');

fclose($file);

exec("cmd.exe /c $bat_file > C:/temp/test.txt");

 

echo "Batch file complete";

 

The output of the test.txt is

 

C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs>cd C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\cgi-bin 

 

C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\cgi-bin>exit

 

 

If ABC.exe is the cause, what other methods / options do I have to run ABC.exe without halting the PHP script?