syntax check

[The Little Guy]

How can I do a syntax check on a php file, with out executing the file?

 

I can't really find a good way to do this... anyone have any ideas?

 

I would like to return and save to a variable the error message that was returned.

 

Thanks for the help!

[Alex]

There's a website here which does syntax checking on php files, and the source code to that is available. But even that runs the code.

 

Is there any particularly reason that you don't want to run the code? The way I'd do it is to use file_get_contents() using the URL (so you don't just get the PHP code; assuming fopen_wrappers is enabled) and grab what the script running is outputting.

[taquitosensei]

if you have access to the command line

php -l phpfile.php

[The Little Guy]

if you have access to the command line

php -l phpfile.php

 

I have been doing that, but it isn't working properly...

 

exec("php -l '$filename'", $opt);
print_r($opt);

 

I know the file ($filename) has errors in it, because I wrote it to have errors, and when it runs it outputs the errors (which I don't want).

 

but... the above output looks like this:

 

Array
(
)

 

shouldn't it have the error message in it?

[salathe]

php -l only checks the syntax of the file, it won't catch runtime errors. Are you sure you want just a syntax check (as your original post says)?

[The Little Guy]

Now I'm thinking I don't want to, I think I now want to execute the file, and return the results as a string, so I can save it in a variable.

[Alex]

Now I'm thinking I don't want to, I think I now want to execute the file, and return the results as a string, so I can save it in a variable.

Then wouldn't the method I posted previously suffice?

[The Little Guy]

I have been trying to use file_get_contents but, I can not seem to get it to work. It isn't parsing the php in the file and I don't know why...

 

It is printing out the html, but the php is getting parsed as html too, and not php. Why?

[taquitosensei]

because it's a string. Either save it as a .php file then include it or use eval but both are evil. They leave open huge security holes. 

[The Little Guy]

I am running this from the command line in an infinite loop, when I load a file that has an error in it, it breaks my loop, and I can't have that. I need the error to go into a string so I can do what ever I want to do with that error message.