Integrating Bash with PHP : Page 3

Passing Arrays between PHP and Bash

Bash provides one-dimensional array variables that you declare using the form:

   Array_name=(value1 ... valuen). 

You can then reference any element of an array using the syntax ${name[subscript]}. There is no maximum limit on the size of an array. For example, you can pass a set of arguments to a Bash script that groups them into arrays. The following PHP script (array.php) sends a list of integers:

   <?php
   $result=shell_exec(
      "C:\bash-2.03\bash.exe array.txt 10 2 13 88 76 34");
   echo($result);  
   ?>

The arrayNumber.txt Bash script in Listing 1 extracts the arguments and creates two Bash arrays (the Bash script also provides a few basic array operations):

The code in Listing 1 stores output into an arrayNumberResult.txt file. When you run the example, the output is:

   First numeric array is: 10 2 13
   
   Second numeric array is: 88 76 34 
   
   Length of first array is: 3
   
   Length of second array is: 3
   
   0 ---->     sum[0] = myArray1[0] + myArray2[0] *** 98
       product[0] = myArray1[0] * myArray2[0] *** 880
       average[0] = (myArray1[0] + myArray2[0])/2 *** 49
   ------------ 
   
   1 ---->     sum[1] = myArray1[1] + myArray2[1] *** 78
    product[1] = myArray1[1] * myArray2[1] *** 152
       average[1] = (myArray1[1] + myArray2[1])/2 *** 39
   ------------ 
   
   2 ---->     sum[2] = myArray1[2] + myArray2[2] *** 47
       product[2] = myArray1[2] * myArray2[2] *** 442
       average[2] = (myArray1[2] + myArray2[2])/2 *** 23
   ------------ 
   
   The sum of all elements of the first array is *** 25
   ------------ 
   
   The first array after deleting the second element is *** 10 13
   ------------

Listing 2 contains a similar example that uses string arrays and demonstrates operations over strings (add, paste, display length, and so on). The PHP script (array.php) that runs the Bash script is:

   <?php
   $result=shell_exec(
      "C:\bash-2.03\bash.exe array.txt red black white blue pink");
   echo($result);  
   ?>

When you run array.php script, the result stored in the arrayResult.txt file is:

   Length of first array is 2
   Length of second array is 3
   ------------ 
   red <--> white 
   red <--> blue 
   red <--> pink 
   black <--> white 
   black <--> blue 
   black <--> pink 
   ------------ 
   red 
   black 
   aqua 
   magenta 
   ------------ 
   redwhite 
   blackblue 
   aquapink 
   magenta 
   ------------  

Passing True PHP Arrays

If you want to pass a PHP array to Bash instead of a list of arguments, convert the PHP array into a string and pass it as shown below (you can use any element separator you like):

   
   <?php
   $nr = array("one", "two", "three", "four", "five");
   
   $separated = implode(":", $nr);
   echo 'The PHP array converted in a string: <br />';
   echo $separated."<br /> <br />";
   $result=shell_exec("C:\bash\bash-2.03\bash.exe arrayToBash.txt '".$separated."'");
   &#133;
   

Next, the Bash script will build an array from this string as follows:

   #!/bin/bash
   
   string=$1
   
   until [ "$token" =  "$string" ]
   do
     token=${string%%:*}   
     a[$i]=$token"BASH"          
     string=${string#*:}   
     ((i=i+1))
   done
   
   #echo "a[0]="${a[0]}
   #echo "a[1]="${a[1]}
   #echo "a[2]="${a[2]}
   #echo "a[3]="${a[3]}
   #echo "a[4]="${a[4]}
   
   echo ${a[@]}

PHP may reconstruct the array from the Bash string using code like this:

   //convert from Bash string to PHP array
   $pieces = explode(" ", $result);
   echo "<br /><br /> Convert from Bash string to PHP array: <br />";
   echo "pieces[0]=".$pieces[0]." <br />"; 
   echo "pieces[1]=".$pieces[1]." <br />"; 
   echo "pieces[2]=".$pieces[2]." <br />"; 
   echo "pieces[3]=".$pieces[3]." <br />"; 
   echo "pieces[4]=".$pieces[4]." <br />"; 
   ?>

The output is (notice that Bash script added the "BASH" text termination for every array element—this is just a flag to show that the Bash script worked):

   The PHP array converted in a string: 
   one:two:three:four:five
   
   The Bash array elements: 
   oneBASH twoBASH threeBASH fourBASH fiveBASH 
   
   Convert from Bash string to PHP array: 
   pieces[0]=oneBASH 
   pieces[1]=twoBASH 
   pieces[2]=threeBASH 
   pieces[3]=fourBASH 
   pieces[4]=fiveBASH
   Passing PHP objects to Bash

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