Happens that I've ended up working on a big PHP program and I need a program (or easy to install script) which draws a flow control/call graph of a PHP application (ie; must work over multiple PHP files).
Already saw stuff like Graphviz, not sure which one works for PHP?
Any suggestions?
Cheers!
I have never used any tool that can do that statically (i.e. from source files), but here's a way to get a callgraph when executing a script/application.
First, you need to install the Xdebug extension -- on a development/testing server (don't install it on a production server : it's quite bad for performances ^^ )
Then, you can use its profiling features to generate a .cachegrindout file corresponding to the execution of a page-load.
After that, you can load that .cachegrindout file with KCacheGrind (On linux -- I don't think there's a windows version) ; KCacheGrind can generate call-graphs from .cachegrindout files.
And here's an example of callgraph you can get :
(source: pascal-martin.fr)
(Here's, it's been generated from a .cachegrindout file obtained while loading a page of Dotclear, a blogging software)
Doxygen can do it statically. Just doxygen -d to create a config file, then edit it to create callgraphs.
Related
If I would like to distribute PHP application with installer(package system of OS) how should I proceed? I don't want PHP files to be there, just working application, so when I type 'app' into console, it ends up being launching application, without need to install PHP on system(no php installation on host required). I would also like the application to have patch-able byte-code, so it's in parts, loaded when needed and only part needs to be replaced on update.
What I would do now is following:
->Compile PHP with extensions for specific platform.
->Make binary application which launches '/full/php app' when app is launched.
->Pack it in installer in a way, that there would be binary added to path when added, launching specific installation of PHP which is alongside the app with argument of start point->App would be running.
Problem is:
Maybe I don't want my PHP files to be exposed(in application, there will be available source anyway) is there some ready made stuff to do this? Is there some better way than I proposed?
Alternative: Modifying OP Cache to work with "packing" application to deliver byte codes to modified OP Cache which just reads the cache.
My suggestion would be a tiny tool I just finished, for almost exactly the same problem. (Oh yes I tried all the others but they're old and rusty, sometimes they're stuck with 4.x syntax, have no support, have no proper documentation, etc)
So here's RapidEXE:
http://deneskellner.com/sw/rapidexe
In the classical way, it's not a really-real compiler, just a glorified packer, but does exactly what you need: the output exe will be standalone, carrying everything with it and transparently building an ad-hoc runtime environment. Don't worry, it all happens very fast.
It uses PHP 7.2 / Win64 by default but has 5.x too, for XP compatibility.
It's freeware, obviously. (MIT License.)
(Just telling this because I don't want anyone to think I'm advertising or something. I just took a few minutes to read the guidelines about own-product answers and I'm trying to stay within the Code of the Jedi here.)
However...
I would also like the application to have patch-able byte-code, so it's in parts, loaded when needed and only part needs to be replaced on update.
It's easier to recompile the exe. You can extract the payload pieces of course but the source pack is one big zip; there seems to be no real advantage of handling it separately. Recompiling a project is just one command.
Maybe I don't want my PHP files to be exposed(in application, there will be available source anyway)
In this case, the exe contains your source compressed but eventually they get extracted into a temp folder. They're deleted immediately after run but, well, this is no protection whatsoever. Obfuscation seems to be the only viable option.
If something goes wrong, feel free to comment or drop me a line on developer-at-deneskellner-dot-com. (I mean, I just finished it, it's brand new, it may misbehave so consider it something like a beta for now.)
Happy compiling!
PHP doesn't do that natively, but here are a few ideas:
Self-extracting archive
Many archival programs allow you to create a self-extracting archive and some even allow to run a program after extraction. Configure it so that it extracts php.exe and all your code to a temp folder and then runs ir from there; deleting after the script has complete.
Transpilers/compilers
There's the old HPHC which translates PHP code to C++, and its wikipedia age also contains links to other, similar projects. Perhaps you can take advantage of those.
Modified PHP
PHP itself is opensource. You should be able to modify it withot too much difficulty to take the source code from another location, like some resource compiled directly inside the php.exe.
Use Zend Guard tool that compiles and converts the plain-text PHP scripts into a platform-independent binary format known as a 'Zend Intermediate Code' file. These encoded binary files can then be distributed instead of the plain text PHP. Zend Guard loaders are available for Windows and Linux platform that enables PHP to run the scripts encoded by Zend Guard.
Refer to http://www.zend.com/en/products/zend-guard
I would like to add another answer for anyone who might be Googling for answers.
Peach Pie compiler/runtime
There is an alternative method to run (and build apps from) .php source codes, without using the standard php.exe runtime. The solution is based on C#/.NET and is actually able to compile php source files to .NET bytecode.
This allows you to distribute your program without exposing its source code.
You can learn more about the project at:
https://www.peachpie.io/
You've got 3 overlapping questions.
1. Can I create a stand-alone executable from a PHP application?
Answered in this question. TL;DR: yes, but it's tricky, and many of the tools you might use are semi-abandoned.
2. Can I package my executable for distribution on client machines?
Yes, though it depends on how you answer question 1. If you use the .Net compiler, your options are different to the C++ option.
3. Can I protect my source code once I've created the application?
Again, depends on how you answer question 1. Many compilers include an "obfuscator" option which makes it hard to make sense of any information you get from decompiling the app. However, a determined attacker can probably get through that (this is why software piracy is possible).
I need to make thumbnails from html (and css) code. Similar to flash's AIR1 HTMLLoader.
Is there a php class or php script that does that?
If you have access to the command line from PHP (via exec() or shell_exec()) you can check out PhantomJS, a headless WebKit browser with a JavaScript API. I use this to do exactly what you're describing:
I generate an HTML file locally
I pass the path of that HTML file and an output path for the image (in my case a PNG) to a bash script that executes a call to PhantomJS (there are great examples when you download the package)
I serve up the generated image
I've tried a LOT of potential solutions and spent many hours on this problem and PhantomJS is by far the easiest I've found. There is a bit of lag waiting for the headless browser to start up, but from what I understand the latest version allows you to keep it running on a port of your choosing. I haven't been able to try this yet. You'll need GhostDriver for this as well. Check out the 1.8 Release Notes for more info.
Good luck!
I have developed a PHP-MySQL web application, which is a school-based project.
My client wants this application to be converted into a .exe file such that it can be installed on his desktop and use it.
How the PHP website can be converted to a .exe file and can it be run without the need of a database/server software?
Please advice.
The convenient solution is not to convert the website to .exe. I think it will be better if you have portable server/php/mysql and make the website work from a usb or CD with autorun.
NuSphere's PhpDock claims to do this: It serves as a deployment helper and comes with a bundled web server. However, I don't know about the database part, and it's not free.
PhpDock enables you to deploy any PHP web application as a Stand Alone Windows Desktop application w/o any changes in the code.
I don't know that particular product, but I have been using their IDE for years and am quite happy.
try using a site-specific browser. it will make a desktop app that is basically a portal running to your webapp. try this one:
https://mozillalabs.com/prism/
It allows alot of advanced features like system tray icons and such. I have used it many times!
Hope this helps, JL
Short answer: Not possible.
Long answer: It depends.
You could install a web- and database server on his machine (or create an installer that does it) and run the application locally on his machine.
or
You keep the application on a server and just provide a launcher that opens his browser and points it to the URL of the application.
As Artefacto mentioned, it might be a good idea to switch to SQLite instead of MySQL but depending on how your application is written it might require a lot of code and SQL Query changes.
No. You have at least to remove the dependency on MySQL (and use e.g. sqlite instead).
Then, you would either have to:
Convert the webpages to windows dialogs. This would completely change your application (e.g. what would originally be http "form submissions" would be someting completely different). At this point, it'd much easier to write a .NET application
Bundle a web server (e.g. Apache) with PHP installed.
Another try would be to turn your php project into PHP-GTK (http://gtk.php.net/).
Yet another one is to give HPHP a try (https://github.com/facebook/hiphop-php/wiki/) and try to turn the generated C code into something like a .DLL in .NET and use it for the logic while coding the UI in say, C#.
Just create a simple program in C or C++ that will just add icon in Start menu, desktop and Quickstart. If your client clicks the icon it will open the default OS browser and point it to URI of your application online.
That might fool your client :)
Or maybe it will be enough for him (he might be asking you to convert it to exe because he can't remember URI or something - ask him what is the reason).
You can use xampp open-source project to pack your PHP site into an executable file.
Use the following steps:-
1. Download Xampp source code.
Add your PHP file inside htdocs directory(Ref:- https://sourceforge.net/p/xampp/code/HEAD/tree/win32/xampp/htdocs/).
Now compile the XAMPP source code and distribute it.
For DATABASE creation and initial data loading in the database, you can code your site in such way that if database is not created, it redirects the page to install.php which do the database creation and data loading task using sql file provided(you need to add SQL file containing database structure and required data).
Don't forget to delete the SQL file post installation of database.
Not sure that's gonna be possible but have a look at:
WinBinder
WinBinder is a new open source
extension for PHP, the script
programming language. It allows PHP
programmers to easily build native
Windows applications.
(source: winbinder.org)
Solution 1:
There are several solutions to convert your web application into a desktop application, the one I prefer is the open source solution: PhpDesktop, but unfortunately it only supports SQLite.
Best Solution:
To convert your PHP application with MySQL I know a paid solution that does this: 'ExeOutPut For Desktop', it is the best for this job
Php desktop is the way to go, it's actually very simple to modify to the version of PHP you want to use and is open source too https://github.com/cztomczak/phpdesktop
I'm building a CMS application in PHP.
How can I make it update itself? For example via a zip file or something similar. So that an user can see new releases and download / install them without using a FTP program at all.
What's the best way to protect my application? So that the user can't share it with friends. I know that a 100% waterproof protection is impossible.
1 . Create php script that:
reads current application version number from version file and posts it to central repository. Repository should return responce indicating there is or there is no newer version (you can use cURL function to implement the post)
using ftp functions downloads update package
disables current application (by putting some "maintenance" page)
extracts updated version and writes on top of old
runs update script that came with new update. This script should do DB updates, configuration or take other actions depending on what have changed
updates version number in version file
enables application
Put that script in crontab file to run periodicaly
2 . You could use Zend Guard tools, but it costs.
That feature is present in Wordpress. You can check out wordpress.org, download the source and understand how it's implemented.
You have this commercial tool.
I've decided to code some applications in PHP that are supposed to run offline in the user's machine. However, I can't seem to find an user-friendly install wizard to create a local server in where the script will run. Any ideas?
PS: Here's an example of what I want: http://www.nolapro.com
You could go to the old school route and try using PHP-GTK.
Text Tutorial here: http://www.kksou.com/php-gtk2/References/Compiling-standalone-PHP-GTK2-applications-on-windows-using-PriadoBlender.php
or you could go the route that I believe has much more promise: Adobe AIR + PHP
It has the added bonus of running on any platform!
Video tutorials here: http://www.vtc.com/products/Adobe-AIR-PHP-Development-Tutorials.htm
There's also a new player in the game, Appcelerator. It lets you write your code in whatever language you want (PHP, Ruby, Python, etc) and compile it for the platform of choice (iPhone, Android, Windows, OSX). Parts of it are still beta, but it looks unbelievably slick & cool, and there are lots of tutorial videos. http://www.appcelerator.com
I hate to advocate this, because it just feels so wrong. You would probably be better off using a language inteded for use for stand-alone applications, if you're going to be doing this often or in a production setting.
With that said, a colleague of mine used to use the Bambalam PHP to EXE Compiler for this. He actually had a profitable product built around it.
Bambalam will generate an EXE that doesn't rely on any external DLLs, based on your PHP code.
http://www.bambalam.se/bamcompile/
If you have a webapp written, you maybe want to deploy on client, a possible way is use wapache, which is a standalone apache bundled with your application, and an integrated (IE) browser control inside.
http://wapache.sourceforge.net/
A new feature of PHP 5.4 & 6 can help you, the builtin web-server.
http://php.net/manual/en/features.commandline.webserver.php
With this feature you can host locally your php app without external webserver, and access on localhost.
If you really talking about a client application you are really wrong to do this.
If you want to wrap a server + browser to deploy your web based application so it runs local you might check out three options:
1) Deploy a simple webkit browser (you can get a QT Webkit Browser in 30 lines of code) and an apache server that is installed somewhere standalone (not via the apache control script as this uses port 80 and i probably conflicts with another installed webserver.
2) Look at the Firefox PRISMA solution. I have read about this only in a news article but it wrapps the firefox around one single start URL. You have to deploy a webserver in the same way as
3) Try to wrap it as a HTA application. Search the corresponding info on MSDN.
I would prefer (1) as you can add special application interacting code as needed.