php-general Digest 16 Jul 2010 15:42:52 -0000 Issue 6849
Topics (messages 306936 through 306947):
PHP - MOODLE - WORK IN AUSTRALIA
306936 by: Gary Crouch
Re: adduser & php
306937 by: Gautam Bhatia
306938 by: Ashley Sheridan
Re: Recent Influx of Unrelated Discussions
306939 by: Arno Kuhl
306945 by: Paul M Foster
Re: Determining the similarity between a user supplied short piece of text
(between 5 and 15 characters) and a list of similar length text items.
306940 by: Richard Quadling
306943 by: Daniel P. Brown
306944 by: Richard Quadling
Re: Weird behavior of exec()
306941 by: Richard Quadling
306942 by: Bob McConnell
306946 by: Jim Lucas
306947 by: Leonardo
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Begin Message ---
Hi
We are looking for some one who knows Moodle well and can write for us, web
service's so that we can integrate our application with Moodle.
Expressions of interest are sought from persons or companies who can work on
a project in Australia, pref Brisbane.
Please email me on:-
crouc...@gmail.com
THX|GC
Gary Crouch
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
hi ,
Since the adduser command demans input from the shell from the
user, i would be tempted to use the useradd command to do what you are
planning to do , give that shot . Thank you
On Sat, 2010-07-10 at 23:02 -0400, Adam Richardson wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 4:39 PM, Matt M. <cmorrow...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The only thing is, when I execute this command from a shell, it works.
> > Obviously I'm replacing $username and $password with something valid when
> > doing this manually.
> >
> > It's like the script clears the $username variable just before it executes
> > the command, or because the variable is inside quotes, it is not getting
> > through.
> >
> >
> > From: Ashley Sheridan
> > Sent: Saturday, July 10, 2010 2:01 PM
> > To: Matt Morrow
> > Cc: php-gene...@lists.php.net
> > Subject: Re: [PHP] adduser & php
> >
> >
> > On Sat, 2010-07-10 at 13:45 -0500, Matt Morrow wrote:
> > I am using php 5 on OpenBSD 4.7
> >
> > I have a script which takes a username and password from $_POST, and is
> > supposed to add the user to the system database. The problem is, adduser
> > creates a username with the same name as the group. The code is:
> >
> > $username=$_POST['username'];
> > $password=$_POST['password'];
> > $output=exec('/usr/bin/sudo adduser -unencrypted -batch
> > $username hosting "$firstname $lastname" $password');
> > echo "result: " . $result . " output: " . $output;
> >
> >
> > The output is:
> > Added user ``hosting''
> >
> > I have validated that $username and $password contain the correct values
> > from the form, by outputting them as well above the line which calls the
> > adduser command.
> >
> > Any help is appreciated.
> >
> > Matt
> >
> > I'm not entirely sure about the syntax you're using here, as it doesn't
> > quite match up with what I see on the useradd (which is what adduser
> > synonyms to) man page (type 'man useradd').
> >
> > Aside from that, be very, very, very careful with this command. In your
> > example you've not sanitised the user input, and the useradd command is used
> > to update details as well as add new users, and you're running it with root
> > privileges under sudo. Maybe enforce some specific name mechanism (a prefix
> > like 'yoursystemname_username') to ensure that people aren't unwittingly or
> > deliberately trying to overwrite existing system user details.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Ash
> > http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk
> >
> >
> >
> >
> Matt, one problem I see:
>
> output=exec('/usr/bin/sudo adduser -unencrypted -batch $username hosting
> > "$firstname $lastname" $password');
>
>
> The code won't replace the variables (i.e., variables are not expanded)
> because they're contained within single quotes and will be evaluated
> literally:
> http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php
>
> That said, as others have pointed out, be very, very careful with this type
> of functionality. Even just viewing the code makes me feel like I should
> smoke a cigarette to calm my nerves (and I've never been a smoker ;)
>
> Adam
>
Regards, <br>
Gautam Bhatia <br>
mail2gautambha...@gmail.com
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
On Fri, 2010-07-16 at 11:59 +0530, Gautam Bhatia wrote:
> hi ,
> Since the adduser command demans input from the shell from the
> user, i would be tempted to use the useradd command to do what you are
> planning to do , give that shot . Thank you
>
> On Sat, 2010-07-10 at 23:02 -0400, Adam Richardson wrote:
> > On Sat, Jul 10, 2010 at 4:39 PM, Matt M. <cmorrow...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > The only thing is, when I execute this command from a shell, it works.
> > > Obviously I'm replacing $username and $password with something valid when
> > > doing this manually.
> > >
> > > It's like the script clears the $username variable just before it executes
> > > the command, or because the variable is inside quotes, it is not getting
> > > through.
> > >
> > >
> > > From: Ashley Sheridan
> > > Sent: Saturday, July 10, 2010 2:01 PM
> > > To: Matt Morrow
> > > Cc: php-gene...@lists.php.net
> > > Subject: Re: [PHP] adduser & php
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, 2010-07-10 at 13:45 -0500, Matt Morrow wrote:
> > > I am using php 5 on OpenBSD 4.7
> > >
> > > I have a script which takes a username and password from $_POST, and is
> > > supposed to add the user to the system database. The problem is, adduser
> > > creates a username with the same name as the group. The code is:
> > >
> > > $username=$_POST['username'];
> > > $password=$_POST['password'];
> > > $output=exec('/usr/bin/sudo adduser -unencrypted -batch
> > > $username hosting "$firstname $lastname" $password');
> > > echo "result: " . $result . " output: " . $output;
> > >
> > >
> > > The output is:
> > > Added user ``hosting''
> > >
> > > I have validated that $username and $password contain the correct values
> > > from the form, by outputting them as well above the line which calls the
> > > adduser command.
> > >
> > > Any help is appreciated.
> > >
> > > Matt
> > >
> > > I'm not entirely sure about the syntax you're using here, as it doesn't
> > > quite match up with what I see on the useradd (which is what adduser
> > > synonyms to) man page (type 'man useradd').
> > >
> > > Aside from that, be very, very, very careful with this command. In your
> > > example you've not sanitised the user input, and the useradd command is
> > > used
> > > to update details as well as add new users, and you're running it with
> > > root
> > > privileges under sudo. Maybe enforce some specific name mechanism (a
> > > prefix
> > > like 'yoursystemname_username') to ensure that people aren't unwittingly
> > > or
> > > deliberately trying to overwrite existing system user details.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Ash
> > > http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > Matt, one problem I see:
> >
> > output=exec('/usr/bin/sudo adduser -unencrypted -batch $username hosting
> > > "$firstname $lastname" $password');
> >
> >
> > The code won't replace the variables (i.e., variables are not expanded)
> > because they're contained within single quotes and will be evaluated
> > literally:
> > http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php
> >
> > That said, as others have pointed out, be very, very careful with this type
> > of functionality. Even just viewing the code makes me feel like I should
> > smoke a cigarette to calm my nerves (and I've never been a smoker ;)
> >
> > Adam
> >
>
> Regards, <br>
> Gautam Bhatia <br>
> mail2gautambha...@gmail.com
>
>
There is no useradd command in PHP, and useradd is just a synonym for
adduser in Linux (type man adduser if you don't believe me) The shell
command can be made to run fine without any extra input by piping the
input to it and setting the pipe switch.
Thanks,
Ash
http://www.ashleysheridan.co.uk
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
-----Original Message-----
From: paras...@gmail.com [mailto:paras...@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Daniel
Brown
Sent: 15 July 2010 05:11 PM
To: PHP General
Subject: [PHP] Recent Influx of Unrelated Discussions
Also known as off-topic posts. We're all guilty of them, but has anyone
recently noticed that there is a significant number (about 35% of all
traffic) that is off-topic? There have been questions on databases,
JavaScript, WordPress, Apache directives, and more.... none of which were
even related to PHP. Unfortunately, this is how dilution occurs, which
often causes communities to dwindle into a defunct or otherwise low-quality
state. As those of you who have been around for at least a couple of years
know, we have continued to thrive here because we're not strict on the
topics of discussion, and frequently [d]evolve into off-topic banter
(particularly on Fridays, as it used to be). However, have you noticed the
influx of extremely low-quality and/or low-class posts to the list? Couple
that with the ominous silence from the formerly-frequent contributors of
high-quality material, code examples, and community assistance. It is not a
coincidence.
This is an open list, and we don't moderate or censor any of the
discussions, but before it gets out of hand, I'd like to suggest a
moratorium on all off-topic posts through the end of this month --- with the
exception, again, of Fridays. Which would mean that those in agreement
would participate in the hiatus by not only not posting off-topic threads,
but also not replying to those that are off the general topic. This isn't
to say that threads can't still eventually decay into a friendly discussion,
as has always been welcome, but that it shouldn't be the intent of a thread
to seek assistance on topics unrelated to PHP and PHP programming in
general.
--
</Daniel P. Brown>
UNADVERTISED DEDICATED SERVER SPECIALS
SAME-DAY SETUP
Just ask me what we're offering today!
daniel.br...@parasane.net || danbr...@php.net http://www.parasane.net/ ||
http://www.pilotpig.net/
--
It's Friday so I suppose I can respond... ;)
I belong to a couple of mailing lists and always found the PHP list
particularly active, focused, mature, and a tremendously helpful resource,
even just following issues others raise and resolve. And Daniel, your own
gentle prods to keep things on track I think sets some of the professional
tone of the list. However, the subject of the list can be broad and fuzzy
and can lead to some semi off-topic posts like Apache directives that affect
PHP apps, JavaScript/Ajax interaction with PHP code, open-source PHP apps,
etc. And even some non-PHP issues that most PHP developers will deal with at
some time or another. Of course there are degrees of just how far off-topic
one can go, but the fact that you can tap into a huge resource of skills and
experience to find answers that can be difficult to find elsewhere is
obviously very tempting. I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds some of the
responses to these off-topic issues quite edifying, considering they're
almost always within the broad realm of PHP-related web development (though
I agree low-quality posts are useless to everyone whether on-topic or not).
At the same time I can see it's a difficult balancing act to cater for
everyone from total beginners to highly skilled professionals and still keep
everyone on board, especially if some of the more experienced and busy users
feel they're being flooded with hundreds of mostly irrelevant posts (like
this one) every day. But I also think those same users have the skills and
filters to quickly scan and find the posts that are
useful/interesting/relevant. Personally I think this list is great, even
with some of the off-topic discussion. And your own involvement has always
been very professional, and of course very focused, thanks.
Cheers
Arno
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
On Fri, Jul 16, 2010 at 11:59:49AM +0200, Arno Kuhl wrote:
> And Daniel, your own
> gentle prods to keep things on track I think sets some of the professional
> tone of the list.
This is very true. I've administered various lists for almost ten years,
and I know for a fact that the list administrator plays a tremendous
role in the tone of a list.
Paul
--
Paul M. Foster
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
On 15 July 2010 17:09, Daniel P. Brown <daniel.br...@parasane.net> wrote:
> Look into the following functions and families:
>
> levenshtein()
> similar_text()
>
Having just found a levenshtein() UDF for MS SQL [1]
I'm very impressed.
Thank you for the suggestion.
Regards,
Richard.
[1] http://www.sqlteam.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51540&whichpage=2#425160
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
On Fri, Jul 16, 2010 at 07:09, Richard Quadling <rquadl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Having just found a levenshtein() UDF for MS SQL [1]
>
> I'm very impressed.
>
> Thank you for the suggestion.
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard.
>
> [1] http://www.sqlteam.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51540&whichpage=2#425160
Dear dearest sir;
Thank you for your formal reply. Your email is important to me.
Please contact me at your convenience to discuss this reply to your
reply.
Sincerely,
Bozo.
--
</Daniel P. Brown>
UNADVERTISED DEDICATED SERVER SPECIALS
SAME-DAY SETUP
Just ask me what we're offering today!
daniel.br...@parasane.net || danbr...@php.net
http://www.parasane.net/ || http://www.pilotpig.net/
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
On 16 July 2010 13:47, Daniel P. Brown <daniel.br...@parasane.net> wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 16, 2010 at 07:09, Richard Quadling <rquadl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Having just found a levenshtein() UDF for MS SQL [1]
>>
>> I'm very impressed.
>>
>> Thank you for the suggestion.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Richard.
>>
>> [1] http://www.sqlteam.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=51540&whichpage=2#425160
>
> Dear dearest sir;
>
> Thank you for your formal reply. Your email is important to me.
> Please contact me at your convenience to discuss this reply to your
> reply.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Bozo.
>
>
>
> --
> </Daniel P. Brown>
> UNADVERTISED DEDICATED SERVER SPECIALS
> SAME-DAY SETUP
> Just ask me what we're offering today!
> daniel.br...@parasane.net || danbr...@php.net
> http://www.parasane.net/ || http://www.pilotpig.net/
>
Oh. It must be Friday!
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
On 15 July 2010 16:51, Leonardo <leobasi...@oi.com.br> wrote:
> Hi everybody. I need to use exec() to run a background php script, but it's
> not working properly. Take a look at this sample:
>
> a.php
> <?
>
> echo ' File A (1) ';
>
> exec('php b.php > output.txt &');
>
> echo ' File A (2) ';
>
> ?>
>
> b.php
> <?
>
> echo 'File B';
>
> ?>
>
> output.txt (begins with 64 null bytes before the following)
> File A (2)
>
> I would expect the output's content to be "File B", but it's not happening.
> I came across this problem because I have a mailing application which
> stopped working after being moved to a new host. The messages were sent by a
> background script launched on user's demand. Like this:
>
> SendMessages.php
> <?
> ...
> exec('php Daemon.php -x ' . $USERID . ' > /dev/null &');
> ...
> ?>
>
> Now it won't work, and I got no clue about what's going on. What now?
>
> Thank you.
>
> --
> PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/)
> To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php
>
>
I'm on Windows XP SP3 and using
PHP 5.3.3RC3 (cli) (built: Jul 15 2010 02:00:11)
Copyright (c) 1997-2010 The PHP Group
All seems to work as expected.
<?php
// TestA.php
echo ' File A (1) ';
exec('C:\\php5\\php.exe -f Z:\\TestB.php > Z:\\output.txt');
echo ' File A (2) ';
?>
<?php
// TestB.php
echo 'File B';
?>
And because of my setup matching the docs at [1], I can actually use ...
<?php
echo ' File A (1) ';
exec('TestB > output.txt');
echo ' File A (2) ';
?>
as long as TestA.php and TestB.php are in the same directory.
So, initially, this looks like a non win32 issue (windows works - see !!!)
Regards,
Richard Quadling.
[1] http://docs.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.commandline.php
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
From: Leonardo
> Em 15/07/2010 18:54, Shawn McKenzie escreveu:
>> On 07/15/2010 04:40 PM, Leonardo wrote:
>>>
>>> Bad habit. I know.
>>
>> Did it fix it?
>>
>
> Not really. The server allows short open tags. So, nothing changed.
You are running b.php as an external command, so it is running as a CLI,
not in the httpd server. You need to check to see how your PHP command
line is configured, it may need the full tag no matter how the server is
set up.
Bob McConnell
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Leonardo wrote:
> Hi everybody. I need to use exec() to run a background php script, but
> it's not working properly. Take a look at this sample:
>
> a.php
> <?
>
> echo ' File A (1) ';
>
> exec('php b.php > output.txt &');
>
> echo ' File A (2) ';
>
> ?>
>
> b.php
> <?
>
> echo 'File B';
>
> ?>
>
> output.txt (begins with 64 null bytes before the following)
> File A (2)
>
> I would expect the output's content to be "File B", but it's not
> happening. I came across this problem because I have a mailing
> application which stopped working after being moved to a new host. The
> messages were sent by a background script launched on user's demand.
> Like this:
>
> SendMessages.php
> <?
> ...
> exec('php Daemon.php -x ' . $USERID . ' > /dev/null &');
> ...
> ?>
>
> Now it won't work, and I got no clue about what's going on. What now?
>
> Thank you.
>
I tried running the same script, and found that the php binary is not in my
path.
run this
echo passthru('which php');
Also, modify your existing exec() command to the following and it will capture
errors too.
exec('php b.php > output.txt 2>&1 &');
After running this is when I noticed it say "sh: php: not found"
--
Jim Lucas
A: Maybe because some people are too annoyed by top-posting.
Q: Why do I not get an answer to my question(s)?
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Em 16/07/2010 09:09, Richard Quadling escreveu:
I'm on Windows XP SP3 and using
PHP 5.3.3RC3 (cli) (built: Jul 15 2010 02:00:11)
Copyright (c) 1997-2010 The PHP Group
All seems to work as expected.
<?php
// TestA.php
echo ' File A (1) ';
exec('C:\\php5\\php.exe -f Z:\\TestB.php> Z:\\output.txt');
echo ' File A (2) ';
?>
<?php
// TestB.php
echo 'File B';
?>
And because of my setup matching the docs at [1], I can actually use ...
<?php
echo ' File A (1) ';
exec('TestB> output.txt');
echo ' File A (2) ';
?>
as long as TestA.php and TestB.php are in the same directory.
So, initially, this looks like a non win32 issue (windows works - see !!!)
Regards,
Richard Quadling.
[1] http://docs.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.commandline.php
Thanks for testing the code. I got it working now, as explained in my
reply to Bob's post.
--- End Message ---
