Question

Can I simply execute Python program using PHP like this? (in a browser)

exec("python myProgram /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/somefile.xml");

or like this:

exec("/path/to/python path/to/myProgram /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/somefile.xml");

Is any of this method correct?

If not, what should be the right way to do it?

Thanks

Answer 1

I would prefer using proc_open() as suggested by mvds as you can’t write to STDIN nor read from STDOUT with exec()/shell_exec(), as well as providing your own set of environment variable –$_ENV.

A sample snippet extracted from my code:

$process = proc_open(
    "{$command}",
    array(            
     array('pipe', 'r'),
     array('pipe', 'w'),
     array('pipe', 'w')
    ),
    $pipes,
    NULL,
    $_ENV
);

if(is_resource($process)){

    fwrite($pipes[0], $string);
    fclose($pipes[0]);

    $rt = stream_get_contents($pipes[1]);
    fclose($pipes[1]);

    $rtErr = stream_get_contents($pipes[2]);
    fclose($pipes[2]);

    $exitCode = proc_close($process);

}

Read more: http://php.net/manual/en/function.proc-open.php