Programming PHP, 3rd Edition

Name

proc_open

Synopsis

resource proc_open(string command, array descriptors,
   array pipes[, string dir[, array env[, array options]]])

Opens a pipe to a process executed by running command on the shell, with a variety of options. The descriptors parameter must be an array with three elements—in order, they describe the stdin, stdout, and stderr descriptors. For each, specify either an array containing two elements or a stream resource. In the first case, if the first element is "pipe", the second element is either "r" to read from the pipe or "w" to write to the pipe. If the first is "file", the second must be a filename. The pipes array is filled with an array of file pointers corresponding to the processes’ descriptors. If dir is specified, the process has its current working directory set to that path. If env is specified, the process has its environment set up with the values from that array. Finally, options contains an associative array with additional options. The following options can be set in the array:

suppress_errors	If set and true, suppresses errors generated by the process (Windows only).
bypass_shell	If set and true, bypasses cmd.exe when running the process.
context	If set, specifies the stream context when opening files.

If any error occurs while attempting to open the process, false is returned. If not, the resource handle for the process is returned.