What are the best practices for handling errors and debugging when using external programs like pdftotext in PHP?

When using external programs like pdftotext in PHP, it is important to handle errors and debugging effectively to ensure smooth execution of the program. One best practice is to check for errors after executing the external program and handle them accordingly, such as displaying an error message or logging the error for further investigation. Additionally, using try-catch blocks can help in catching any exceptions thrown during the execution of the external program. 

// Execute pdftotext command
$output = shell_exec('pdftotext input.pdf output.txt');

// Check for errors
if ($output === null) {
    // Handle error
    echo "Error executing pdftotext command";
} else {
    // Process output
    echo "PDF converted successfully";
}

Keywords

pdftotext external programs error handling debugging PHP functions

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