[Php-java-bridge-users] Stand alone execution of PHP (CLI script) through Java

[<php...@li...>]

Hi,

First off, if similar questions have been asked and answers provided
previously on the mailing list I apologize for asking them again. I could
not fine definite answers to some of these questions when thumbing through
either examples, the source, or the mailing list archives.

I'm building a tool, albeit somewhat as a science project and a convenience
tool that integrates launching PHP processes from Ant. I actually am using
it to launch Phing processes through Ant in Eclipse for my PHP development.
I know that no matter what I do, performance will not be nearly as good as
going straight to the PHP exe, but I'm still interested in pursuing this
approach.

Prior to looking at the PHP Java Bridge I have code that will launch PHP
processes using Java's Runtime as an Ant task, however I was looking to see
if:

A) the PHP Java Bridge could be used so that I could clean up some of my
code and re-use elements that have been developed to suit similar needs thus
building on what is already out there.

and

B) to determine if the PHP Java Bridge (should it work, or at the very least
its approach) is more efficient than what I was previously doing.

I've run into a few snags though, so far as I can tell the PHP Java Bridge
requires that the PHP executable be somewhere on the path as it is known by
the OS through its environment variable(s) or on a path that the PJB has
hard coded to look for it on (e.g. /usr/bin/php, or C:/Program Files/PHP).
In addition I've found very little literature in the source code, examples,
or on the mailing list that detail how a PHP process might be started with
commandline arguments, and script arguments passed in. I have, however, been
successful at launching a rather rudimentary example that effectively is
"php-cgi.exe foo.php".

So my questions are these:
1. Does the PHP Java Bridge support some means of identifying the location
that it should search for an PHP executable in, either by adding it to the
common paths in Util.Process or by just searching on the path given? Even if
this functionality isn't provided "out-of-the-box" so to speak, is there an
class that is easily extensible that I could leverage to make it work in
this manner (maybe a new ScriptEngine, Factory, Context?)
2. Does the PHP Java Bridge support setting command line arguments on the
PHP executable (e.g. "-d foo=bar")? If it does not, is there any way to
extend existing classes to add this functionality and if so what classes
should I look at?
3. Does the PHP Java Bridge support setting script level arguments? Again,
if it does not, is there any way to extend existing classes to add this
functionality and if so what classes should I look at?

I was going a bit cross-eyed tracking the code where it gets executed and by
whom. I didn't see any place where to set the path or arguments explicitly
and I suspect I might want to tool around in the Context files, but have yet
to get that far. Any help that someone would give would be really
appreciated.

Also, as an aside, I stumbled upon the LauncherWindows classes... and I'm
not really sure what it is that they do. I mean, I can tell they are four
parts of a binary file definition, but what binary? I'm curious.

Thank you!

(Note: I originally sent this before subscribing to the list and it got
stuck in a "requires moderator approval" queue, so I resent it. Hopefully
only one of the messages gets posted to the mailing list, if both do... I'm
sorry!)

Regards,
Sean W. Quinn
Email: sw...@gm... | Mobile: 978.413.9396