How to run vi from Symfony Process?

Question

I have the following code:

        $process = new Process('vi');

        try {
            $process->setPty(true);
            $process->mustRun(function ($type, $buffer) {
                echo $buffer;
            });
            //echo $process->getOutput();
        } catch (ProcessFailedException $e) {
            echo $e->getMessage();
        }

However, it dies for me with the following info:

The command "vi" failed.

Exit Code: 1(General error)

Working directory: [path]

Output:
================
Vim: Error reading input, exiting...
Vim: Finished.


Error Output:
================
Vim: Warning: Output is not to a terminal
Vim: Warning: Input is not from a terminal

UPDATE

Seems it was not clear for some people what I'm going to do. I will explain. This script is being run in console. The same thing works via passthru (although Vim still warns about the output). I want to have an interactive process that will allow users to modify some file before its sent somewhere. I do not want to implement my own editor and that's why I want them to use vi. vi is available on my server (it is clearly visible from the output I provided).

Answer 1

Here I was given a proper answer: https://github.com/symfony/symfony/issues/19528

Basically, I had to use $process->setTty(true). So, the full example will be:

    $process = new Process('vi');

    try {
        $process->setTty(true);
        $process->mustRun(function ($type, $buffer) {
            echo $buffer;
        });
    } catch (ProcessFailedException $e) {
        echo $e->getMessage();
    }

Answer 2

Your question makes complete sense by the way..

My thoughts are:

• You get a Exit Code: 1 --> Which means the file name to edit wasn't specified. Although I could be wrong.
• It shows "Working directory: [path]". Which tells me, maybe the path is missing.
• Also, I don't know which user (on the system) runs the Symfony Process Component.

So maybe try:

$process = new Process('vi /tmp/temp.file');

Use /tmp because anyone should have access, also possible a web folder that is writable. Another thought, is to run the process with sudo and specify the user vimrc:

$process = new Process('sudo vim -u ~user/.vimrc /tmp/temp.file');

But then you might need to pass input (like sudo password):

$process->setInput('someSudoPassword');

But who's sudo password I don't know. Again, I'm not sure which user runs the Process Component.

These are just some thoughts, and I'm not certain if it solves anything but I hope it might help you, or even help to think about another way to handle this.

Answer 3

Why would you want to do this? vi is something that is controlled by keyboard. If you need to, you might need to check the full path and if php/symfony has access to this path. Probably your php script does not have access to this script, and the web server (I assume you're talking about a web application here) might not be allowed to start a login shell at the server anywhere. Would be great if you could provide more details about your goal + environment.

If you just want to edit / manipulate the file, the sed command might be an option. Or open/manipulate the file directly with php might be even better.