Question

I use exec() to execute this a cp UNIX command:

  $path = "/var/www/copy_dir/";
  $pp = "cp -R /var/www/top_folder/mid_folder/base_folder/".$user_id."/* ".$path;
  exec($pp, $ax, $ay);
  if($ay === 0) {
    return "done";
  } else {
    return "error";
    exit;
  }

This works fine, it does what I need, however, I want to execute rm -rf (or other more safer way to clear the contents of the dir) on the $path first before copying. Can I combine it on my current $pp?

Answer 1

Yes, just use a semicolon if you want to unconditionally execute both commands. Or (as mentioned by g13n) double ampersand, which will only execute the second command if the first one succeeds.

$path = "/var/www/copy_dir/";
$pp = "rm -rf '$path*' && cp -R /var/www/top_folder/mid_folder/base_folder/".$user_id."/* ".$path;
exec($pp, $ax, $ay);
if($ay === 0) {
    return "done";
} else {
    return "error";
    exit;
}