how do i run firefox using exec() in php?

vaporizel · 11-07-2010, 08:34 PM

I can run firefox in PHP CLI using this code

Code:

exec("DISPLAY=:0.0 firefox");

but when i run it in BROWSER it didnt give same result, firefox didnt show, even in process.

I'm using Centos 5.4 32-bit

pgpython · 11-09-2010, 05:46 AM

I think your slightly confused here. When you ran Firefox from the cli you ran it from the machine you were running it on. however if you put that command on a web page. that does not get executed on the client! What happens is the client will request that page and execute on the server. which is a dangerous thing to do and should be only done if necessary and under the tightest security and also is unsuitable for running any GUI commands. so putting exec("DISPLAY=:0.0 firefox") is completely wrong.

So the question you ask is how do you execute the command on the client then?

The answer is you can't under normal circumstances. Fortunately for opening a window you don't need to

. you can use the window.open function in javascript. which will open a new browser window or use the target attribute on links

Be careful if you use window.open though, many browsers will block this as its considered to be annoying popup