What are the best practices for handling output and error messages when using exec() to run external scripts in PHP?

When using exec() to run external scripts in PHP, it is important to properly handle output and error messages to ensure the execution is successful and to troubleshoot any issues that may arise. One common approach is to capture both the output and error messages using the output parameters of exec() and check for any errors by examining the return value of the command. 

// Example of handling output and error messages when using exec()
$command = 'your_external_script.sh';
$output = array();
$return_var = 0;

// Execute the command and capture output and return value
exec($command, $output, $return_var);

// Check if the command was successful
if($return_var !== 0) {
    // Handle error message
    echo "Error executing command: " . implode("\n", $output);
} else {
    // Process output
    echo "Command executed successfully: " . implode("\n", $output);
}

Keywords

exec output handling error handling external scripts PHP

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