How can I run several PHP scripts from within a PHP script (like a batch file)?

Question

How can I run several PHP scripts from within another PHP script, like a batch file? I don't think include will work, if I understand what include is doing; because each of the files I'm running will redeclare some of the same functions, etc. What I want is to execute each new PHP script like it's in a clean, fresh stack, with no knowledge of the variables, functions, etc. that came before it.

Update: I should have mentioned that the script is running on Windows, but not on a web server.

Answer 1

You could use the exec() function to invoke each script as an external command.

For example, your script could do:

<?php

exec('php -q script1.php');
exec('php -q script2.php');

?>

Exec has some security issues surrounding it, but it sounds like it might work for you.

Answer 2

// use exec http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.exec.php

<?php

exec('/usr/local/bin/php somefile1.php');
exec('/usr/local/bin/php somefile2.php');

?>

In the old days I've done something like create a frameset containing a link to each file. Call the frameset, and you're calling all the scripts. You could do the same with iframes or with ajax these days.

Answer 3

exec() is a fine function to use, but you will have to wait until termination of the process to keep going with the parent script. If you're doing a batch of processes where each process takes a bit of time, I would suggest using popen().

The variable you get creates a pointer to a pipe which allows you to go through a handful of processes at a time, storing them in an array, and then accessing them all with serial speed after they're all finished (much more concurrently) using steam_get_contents().

This is especially useful if you're making API calls or running scripts which may not be memory-intensive or computationally intensive but do require a significant wait for each to complete.

Answer 4

If you need any return results from those scripts, you can use the system function.

$result = system('php myscript.php');
$otherresult = system('php myotherscript.php');