PHP shell_exec() - having problems running command

Question

Im new to php shell commands so please bear with me. I am trying to run the shell_exec() command on my server. I am trying the below php code:

$output = shell_exec('tesseract picture.tif text_file -l eng');
echo "done";

I have the picture.tif in the same directory as the php file. In my shell I can run this without a problem.

It takes a while to run the code, then it doesnt make the text_file like it does when I run it in command prompt.

Try using the absolute path to tesseract. To find it out, run which tesseract from the command line. Then take that result and use that path in the shell_exec call... — ircmaxell
– ircmaxell, Commented Feb 18, 2011 at 0:05
@bryan sammon: It takes longer than that to execute the PHP script? [Alter to the absolute path as recommended by ircmaxell first] — Orbling
– Orbling, Commented Feb 18, 2011 at 0:08
I just altered the path and it takes the same amount of time and still doesnt write the text_file. You think it may be leaving it in a different directory? — bryan sammon
– bryan sammon, Commented Feb 18, 2011 at 0:10

Banjer · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-18 01:35:45Z

1

Per your comment:

Should I write a loop in shell instead?

You can write a very simple shell script to run the command in a loop. Create the script file first:

touch myscript.sh

Make the script executable:

chmod 700 myscript.sh

Then open it with a text editor such as vim and add this:

for ((  i = 0 ;  i <= 5;  i++  ))
do
  tesseract picture.tif text_file -l eng
done

Thats the very basics of it (not sure what else you need), but that syntax should help get you started. To run the script, do this if you're in the same directory as the script:

./myscript.sh

Or specify the full path to run it from anywhere:

/path/to/mydir/myscript.sh

answered Feb 18, 2011 at 1:35

Banjer

8,3406 gold badges51 silver badges68 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

bryan sammon Over a year ago

Just got back to see someone answered. This was def the simplest way to do this. I had already started on this before you answered and its going to be by far the best solution. Thanks for your help.

Jeremy · Accepted Answer · 2011-02-18 00:58:19Z

1

Could this be a permissions issue? My guess is that PHP isn't running with the same permissions that you do when you execute the command directly from the command prompt. What OS are you running on?

answered Feb 18, 2011 at 0:58

Jeremy

2,6671 gold badge22 silver badges28 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

PHP shell_exec() - having problems running command

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related