Drupal: how to access to Drupal's APIs with a standalone php script?

Question

When I create a new script in a separate php file to run for Drupal, I need to add the following lines on top in order to access all Drupal APIs:

require_once './includes/bootstrap.inc'; drupal_bootstrap(DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_FULL);

Is this correct ?

It's easy enough to test it yourself. What happens when you do that? — , Feb 16 '11 at 08:45
@Mark Trapp You know, sometimes you load more stuff than necessary, even if it works — aneuryzm, Feb 16 '11 at 08:50
Take a look at update.php. I think it runs without a full bootstrap. You might get some hints there. — Rimian, Feb 16 '11 at 10:52

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 16 '11 at 11:25

13

Yep, I use this:

/** bootstrap drupal **/
chdir("/path/to/drupal/site/htdocs");
require_once './includes/bootstrap.inc';
drupal_bootstrap(DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_FULL);

And then just add whatever Drupal-specific code you need below that.

answered Feb 16 '11 at 11:25

Norio De Sousa

146
3

Also, check the documentation of drupal_bootstrap to see which bootstrap level you actually need. – Pierre Buyle Feb 17 '11 at 09:16
The question was about accessing "all Drupal APIs" - is it really THAT simple, or do dependencies rear their ugly head? Example: using Drupal Forms API in an external PHP script (because FAPI is awesome). Not for lack of trying, but I haven't found any blog posts demonstrating Drupal API usage outside of Drupal. If anyone has such links, it's on-topic and much appreciated! :-) – Scott Prive Mar 27 '12 at 14:19

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 27 '12 at 03:35

5

this method still works with drupal 7, but instead of the chdir bit you may need to add the following line before the require and bootstrap call:

define('DRUPAL_ROOT','/path/to/drupal');

answered Mar 27 '12 at 03:35

toastyghost

51
1
4

2

or define('DRUPAL_ROOT', getcwd()) – AKS Oct 29 '12 at 13:05

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 12 '14 at 16:30

This should work for both Drupal 6 and Drupal 7 :

define('DRUPAL_ROOT', 'path/to/drupal');
chdir(DRUPAL_ROOT);
require './includes/bootstrap.inc';
drupal_bootstrap(DRUPAL_BOOTSTRAP_FULL);

It doesn't matter where you put the script that contains this code. Just make sure you replace path/to/drupal with the actual installation path of your Drupal system.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Feb 16 '11 at 08:45

0

yes, it's one way to enter drupal api.
Sometime chdir("dir to drupal dir"); required, if you call php script from other directory.

answered Feb 16 '11 at 08:45

Nikit

5,128
19
31

Drupal: how to access to Drupal's APIs with a standalone php script?

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