Running a PHP function at timed intervals

linux_pioneer · 09-25-2004, 08:48 AM

I have a web database where I use PHP to query the database and display results. I would like to run a query every few minutes to check for updates. (The database is updated constantly by network management agents). Is there a way for me to run a PHP function at so many intervals without using auto-refresh? With java I've used settimeout() function to update seconds for a clock. Is there a similar method for PHP? I could do an auto refresh for the entire page but I'd rather not.

lappen · 09-25-2004, 11:10 AM

I think cron would do the job here,
Just add it to your crontab and what script to run at what intervals through php cli

Hko · 09-25-2004, 11:51 AM

Quote:

I could do an auto refresh for the entire page but I'd rather not.

AFAICS, that will be the only way, I'm afraid...

linux_pioneer · 09-25-2004, 08:41 PM

lappan: I don't think I need to use a crontab. I want to run this script within the webpage every so minutes. The intent is to have the end user see updates in the database without using screen refresh.

Hko: What does AFAICS mean? I understand PHP does not do event handling as Java does. Had to ask. Also I was considering using Javascript to run that query. I've done some research online and all seems to point to JSP. I don't really need server side scripting for this function. I've created a java program that can query my database with JDBC. I can't seem to incorperate this program as a script embedded in my web page. Perhaps I need to open this as a whole other topic.

lappen · 09-26-2004, 06:52 AM

What about meta tags?

Code:

Meta Refresh tag
The Refresh meta tag will automatically send users to another URL, after a specified amount of time has elapsed. The syntax for the content part is...
the number of seconds to delay, then a semicolon, then the new destination URL.

For example...
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5;URL=http://www.site.com/">

Note that the search engines don't like Meta Refresh tag and either ignore the current page and index the second page or may not index the site at all.

Can't see why it wouldn't work to send the person back to the same page again and if I remember correctly php should have a function for grabbing the current location and send it back

DeTHZiT · 09-26-2004, 01:22 PM

AFAICS: As Far As I Can See