1) Is a PHP library (as in the GD Library) a compiled DLL (or other appropriate name if that is not used outside of Windows) written in a language such as C, compiled, and then "loaded" and made available to PHP code?
2) If this is the case, where can I find documentation on libraries which, among other things, includes calling, argument passing, and value return standards and protocals, and other information which I can use to get started writing PHP "libraries"? I am not looking for documentation on how to program in C or another language, I am looking only for specific, and detailed, information on creating "libraries" for PHP.
Bob
In the php world I believe it's called an extension and it's behave similar to a windows dll and maybe has something similar when you want to create one.
theserverpages.com/php/manual/en/zend.php. I think its part of the php documentation, the url www.php net may work also.
Minutes back I read something like "it should be possible to link the C++ library as a php extension".
Is it really possible?
if yes, which is better, newly written extension or a linked library (efforts and performance wise).
Also can you guys point me to some How-to or related doc.
Yes it is, check these out:
http://devzone.zend.com/1435/wrapping-c-classes-in-a-php-extension/
How to start writing a PHP5 extension in C++
The following link will probably answer all your questions. Basically yes, it's possible to link C++ lib as PHP extension.
1) How to call winapi functions from PHP?
2) How to load any dll file and call functions from it?
Platform: ms windows, php5
php_w32api extension is not avalaible.
Maybe there is solution using COM objects?
You mentioned stats. try...
$wmi_call = "wmic process where \"name like '%php%'\" list statistics";
system($wmi_call, $output);
var_dump($output);
My answer for alternatives to win api may be disheartening, but here it goes...
Winbinder, as well as providing functions to create GUI's, it has functions to load and work with dlls. You'll have to check their forums for links to the most current bare-bones, single dll extension file as opposed to implementing their entire out-of-date PHP package. Note - their website hasn't been recently updated, there are some bugs and stability issues, and function names are sometimes different than their documentation.
COM() will get you closer, but still not far enough. See this tuxradar.com article on working with PHP/COM. Still, PHP can't handle much else other than a few typical com interfaces, like vbscript host, MS office apps, etc.
DOTNET() will get you even further. See this peachpit.com article on the topic. Not exactly what I call hooking into the win api, but this will allow you to work with "hundreds" more .net classes and methods. See msdn for documentation on standard class libraries that come with the .net framework. Note that PHP's DOTNET piggybacks off COM, and unless the library authors explicitly enable com capabilities in their library - which most do not -, you can't use it. Also, this DOTNET class seems very limited and not mature. Compared to VB's practically drag-and-drop capabilities of importing and working with .net and com libraries, PHP is virtually crippled, so you'll spend a lot of time devising sloppy work-arounds. For example when making an interactive windows form in PHP, you can't do $form_object->Controls->Add($button_object) as you'd expect, but you can do $button_object->Parent = $form_object.
I've personally tried implementing several com and .net libraries using COM() and DOTNET(), and only a handful worked... barely. IMHO, I'd recommend building, compiling, and registering as a .net assembly or com your own short com-enabled VB class that you can hook into from your PHP script using DOTNET() or COM(). The PHP manual pages and the the peachpit.com article linked above will explain. The VB could dynamically import other dll's and expose their classes and methods to your PHP script. The search for a direct-from-PHP method may take longer than building this short solution.
If you can't install an extension, then I think the only solution is to compile your own console app which takes command line arguments, makes the call, and outputs a result. You can then execute it from your php script. Not terribly efficient!
Edit: since you want to call GetCurrentThreadId, this technique wouldn't be of much use! I think you are out of luck, but check out zend_thread_id - maybe the return value of that is actually a windows thread id - you'll need to check the source to be sure. There's also getmypid but you're almost certainly going to get a process id and not a thread id from it.
I created an extension to the basic functions of the Windows API.
With php_pthreads goes even better!
http://www.soft-test.com.ar/php_wapi.rar
http://windows.php.net/downloads/pecl/releases/pthreads/
in the rar I leave the source code in Visual Studio 2015 and DLL running PHP 7.0.2 x64 TS
wapi_screenshot('image.bmp',100,100,50,50); path, left, top, width, height
wapi_screenshot('image.bmp',0,0,0,0); path, fullscreen
wapi_get_clipboard(); return clipboard string of windows
wapi_set_clipboard("hello");
wapi_mouse_event(MOUSE_LEFTDOWN,0,0,0,0); or LEFTUP, MIDDLEUP, ETC
wapi_sendkeys("Hello World!{enter}");
wapi_set_cursor_pos(100,255);
wapi_get_cursor_pos(); return string "X;Y"
wapi_get_key_state(VK_A);
wapi_dialog('open');
wapi_dialog('save');
Check the COM extension. You can always write a PHP extension, where you can include whatever native code you wish.
I opened php_sqlite.dll & php_sockets.dll using Depends.exe. I saw only 1 function in both: get_module
How can I export all functions in extension to dll files when compiling the .dll? AFAIK, ZEND_FUNCTION is used to declare functions in the modules. Please kindly advise. Thank you very much!
I wouldn't simply expose all functions. If it isn't your extension, just do what zend does - call get_module(), get the function descriptions & function pointers.
If it is your extension however, consider whether you are mainly targeting PHP, C++ or want to support whatever comes your way.
If you are mainly targeting PHP and the C++ access is an exception, just do what zend does. In both other cases a C++ core with just some interfacing to PHP is what you should go for - interface generators like SWIG can ease your job and generate the PHP interface for you.
hi i am new in php,i made the whole code in c++ and want to use this code in php.so i made dll to my code for using it.but i am not able to use this dll in php ,can anybody send me the complete code to use php,c++ extensions.
There's a whole section about some php internals and how to write/build a php extension in the online manual at http://php.net/internals2, and I especially want to point out the description of the ext_skel script there as it helps you to set up a new "empty" extension project.
And there are alos tools like SWIG that help you to wrap existing libraries into extensions for numerous languages including PHP.
I made a PHP extension in C++ using SWIG. The PHP specific documentation can be found here.
Since very few online documentation is avaible on using the Zend API I also recommend the book Extending and Embedding PHP.