Read/write data from command line using PHP

Question

Hey everybody,

I have a server (debian lenny), spectral analyzer and I have downloaded collection of source codes from Steve Sharples's site. With these s. coudes I am able to connect to spectral analyzer - type command and get the responce.

For example:

my-atom:~/vxi11# ./vxi11_cmd 135.123.106.59
Input command or query ('q' to exit): *IDN?

and I get: Rohde&Schwarz,FSV-7,102004/007,1.50 SP1

Am I able to connect to this server, write command and read the responce using PHP? I was thinking about sockets, but I am not sure if the best choice.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks, Petr

Answer 1

You can execute external programs using exec, shell_exec, system, or proc_open.

I would recommend proc_open, which allows you to set up pipes for stdin, stdout, and stderr.

Check out the proc_open link.

Answer 2

Also you can do like:

$result = `SOME_COMMAND_HERE`;