running external executable file

[bfmk]

Hello all,

 

I have an offline java program that runs a few recommender-systems algorithms and would like to be able to run it on a website using PHP (the output is inserted into a mySQL database on the same server). I have started looking into how this is done by creating a simple HelloWorld java program, archiving it into a .jar file and using the system() function to run it in a PHP script. The return value is 127, and no output is echoed. I'm guessing the problem is that I don't have a java runtime environment set up on this server, but I was wondering if anyone had any other insight into the problem, or if anyone has tried running jar files using the system/exec function before??

 

Just in case I'm doing anything stupid on a code level, here is what I've written.

 

<?PHP 
$output = system('java -jar ./HelloTest.jar', $retval);
echo $output;
echo $retval;
?>

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[premiso]

I'm guessing the problem is that I don't have a java runtime environment set up on this server

 

You are trying to run java on a system that does not have java.

 

Simple as that, you need the application to run it, the PHP is fine as far as I can tell.

[bfmk]

Okay, so to resolve the issue I simply need a server that has JDK installed? No modifications to any PHP configurations are required to run jar files or anything?

[premiso]

Okay, so to resolve the issue I simply need a server that has JDK installed? No modifications to any PHP configurations are required to run jar files or anything?

 

That is kind of the point of system. To run a 3rd party application not associated to PHP. It calls on the "system" it self to run that application and return the results. Much like a command prompt in Windows or Linux. You can run an application from Command Line and get return values from it. But you need that application installed to run it.