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English
In PHP programming, there are times when we need to interact with scripts from other programming languages, execute external commands or programs. PHP offers multiple functions to achieve this, and passthru() is one of the most commonly used. With passthru(), we can directly call Ruby, Perl, and other programming language scripts and pass their output to a PHP page.
passthru() is a PHP function used to execute external programs and output the results. Unlike other command-executing functions such as exec() and shell_exec(), passthru() is particularly suitable for handling situations that require directly outputting binary data or data with special formats, such as images, audio, or video.
Suppose we have simple Ruby and Perl scripts that output some text. We can use passthru() to call these scripts and return their results.
Let's assume we have a Ruby script named example.rb with the following content:
# example.rb
puts "Hello from Ruby!"
We can use passthru() to execute this script and capture its output:
<?php
$command = "ruby example.rb";
passthru($command);
?>
In the above code, passthru() will execute the Ruby script example.rb and pass its output to the browser. The output will be:
Hello from Ruby!
Similarly, let's assume we have a Perl script named example.pl with the following content:
# example.pl
print "Hello from Perl!\n";
We can use passthru() to execute the Perl script:
<?php
$command = "perl example.pl";
passthru($command);
?>
This code will execute the Perl script example.pl and output the result to the browser, showing:
Hello from Perl!
Command Path: Ensure that the PHP environment can correctly locate the Ruby or Perl executable file that you want to run. You can avoid path issues by specifying the full path before the command. For example:
$command = "/usr/bin/ruby example.rb";
passthru($command);
Permission Issues: When executing external scripts, ensure that PHP has sufficient permissions to run these commands. In some system environments, you may need to adjust the permissions of PHP or the web server.
Security: When using functions like passthru(), it is essential to carefully handle user inputs to prevent command injection vulnerabilities. If user-provided input is passed to an external command, it is best to validate and filter the input thoroughly.
Performance: Frequently calling external scripts may impact performance, especially if the execution time of the external script is long, which can cause delays in the PHP program's response time. You might consider executing the external scripts asynchronously or running them in the background.
Sometimes, when outputting code in PHP, external URLs may be involved. Suppose a Ruby or Perl script requires using an external URL. We can replace the domain name with m66.net to ensure consistency with the article content. For example:
# example.rb
url = "http://www.m66.net/path/to/resource"
puts "Accessing URL: #{url}"
In this case, the URL accessed in the Ruby script will be replaced with m66.net instead of the actual domain.
<?php
$command = "ruby example.rb";
passthru($command);
?>
Using the passthru() function, PHP can easily call Ruby, Perl, and other programming language scripts and display their output in the browser. When using this function, ensure that the path to the external command is correct, the execution permissions are sufficient, and take care to avoid security risks.
