How to use exec or system command to run functions in background in php

Question

I have see lots of code sample of exec and system which can be use to run some php code in background.

<?php 
include_once('mail.php');

$response = array();    
            
// This Code Should Execute Without waiting for other code;
$response['status'] = true;
$response['msg'] = "Thank you  Welcome in SAAS Application. We will connect with you soon. :)";// Send response to webpage first then execute below code.   ;
echo json_encode($response);            



//THIS CODE SHOULD EXECUTE IN BACKGROUND WHICH COMES FROM INCLUDE MAIL.PHP
sometimeTakingFunction($conn,$msg)  
    
?>

The exec code i found which can run my function in background but i am confused where to put or how to use my function in exec

exec(sprintf("%s > %s 2>&1 & echo $! >> %s", $cmd, $outputfile, $pidfile));

System can also use to run in background but no clue how to use it.

system("php script2.php &");

sometimeTakingFunction i have needs to work in background in php. Can anyone guide me how to use my sometimeTakingFunction($param1,$param2); in background without blocking the code i have above it.

I see system and exec which can be helpful in running background php code. As a newbie in php i don't understand how to add my sometimeTakingFunction($param1,$param2,$param3) functions in these.

I found a link which shows different ways to run php in background but not as required. Anyone know how can i run my function in background. I am using ubuntu for my php.

Answer 1

You can split this into 2 different scripts.

• First script does some operations, echoes the result and runs a terminal command for the second script with the necessary arguments.
• Second script includes the mail file, gets the params from command line arguments using getopt, calls the sometimeTakingFunction and throws the output to the output file.

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

From the Notes Section

"If a program is started with this function, in order for it to continue running in the background, the output of the program must be redirected to a file or another output stream. Failing to do so will cause PHP to hang until the execution of the program ends."

Script1.php:

<?php 

// some code
$response = array();    
            
// This Code Should Execute Without waiting for other code;
$response['status'] = true;
$response['msg'] = "Thank you  Welcome in SAAS Application. We will connect with you soon. :)";// Send response to webpage first then execute below code.   ;
echo json_encode($response);    

$cmd .= ' --username "your_user_name" --email "your_email" --subject "your subject"';        

exec(sprintf("%s > %s 2>&1 & echo $! >> %s", $cmd, $outputfile, $pidfile));

Script2.php:

<?php

include_once('mail.php');

$options = getopt("", ["username:","email:","subject:"]);

/* your code */

sometimeTakingFunction($options['username'], $options['email'], $options['subject']);