Feature(let) idea

Pierre,

The idea is to use the same set of "extension=foo" directives for all
platforms (nearly all). It is relatively obvious that extension_dir
will differ.

I like this idea and will ease our life, a litte :)

I got that, and I like simplification. It would just not really make
php.ini files "portable" between Windows and Unix.

It will make extension mgr life easier, not more, not less, and that's
already a lot :)

I could even think of some other feature(let)s that might help us move
into that direction:

• define a unified path separator for include_path (the system-dependend
  ones could still be accepted, thus keeping BC)
• accept paths in php.ini with forward slashes on all systems (I think
  Apache also does -even requires- it that way)

We support / on windows already. If someone uses \ only, he puts
himself in the non ""portable"" side. I don't really see a reason to
stop to support one or another.

• also make zend_extension and zend_extension_ts "guess" wether dll or
  so is to be loaded

just like the extension directive yes.

That being said, a 100% portable php.ini is not possible, the main
problem I had so far was to deal with different extension names on the
various platforms. However, it was less than a problem after that dl()
has been deprecated. But it can make installer/tester life easier to
have one common way to define extension in php.ini, even if the
various paths differ (to stay on topic).

Grüß
--Pierre

The idea is to use the same set of "extension=foo" directives for all
platforms (nearly all). It is relatively obvious that extension_dir
will differ.

IMHO, it should also allow to dl() by extension name, but only as a fallback mechanism to keep BC.
First consider the argument as a filename, then, if it cannot be loaded, try to add the prefix/suffix
corresponding to the current architecture. Performance aspects shouldn't matter for dl().

Here is an example of the logic to implement, taken from the PHK code (I think it is the same in PEAR
now, with the HP-UX case added recently) :

public static function require_extension($ext)
{
if (extension_loaded($ext)) return;

if (ini_get('enable_dl') != 1)
trigger_error($ext.': Cannot load extension when enable_dl is Off'
,E_USER_ERROR);
if (ini_get('safe_mode') == 1)
trigger_error($ext.': Cannot load extension in safe mode',E_USER_ERROR);

if (substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3) == 'WIN') $suffix = '.dll';
elseif (PHP_OS == 'HP-UX') $suffix = '.sl';
elseif (PHP_OS == 'AIX') $suffix = '.a';
elseif (PHP_OS == 'OSX') $suffix = '.bundle';
else $suffix = '.so';

@dl('php_'.$ext.$suffix) || @dl($ext.$suffix);
if (!extension_loaded($ext)) throw new Exception("$ext: Cannot load extension");
}

Windows Explorer on WinXP does a fine job for me displaying binary
version numbers, pulling up dll properties of .so files, etc.

Not sure which issue you are seeing?

Andi Gutmans wrote:

Damn, I think you are right :)
That's weird. There are some tools which only work with the .dll
filename (i.e. Windows Explorer).

Maybe my idea is better then :)
Andi

-----Original Message-----
From: William A. Rowe, Jr. [mailto:wrowe@rowe-clan.net]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2007 10:53 PM
To: Andi Gutmans
Cc: internals@lists.php.net
Subject: Re: [PHP-DEV] Feature(let) idea

Andi Gutmans wrote:

I got a feature idea from Apache. Apache will automatically
translate
mod_rewrite.so in LoadModule to mod_rewrite.dll on Windows.
It does? Apache/Win32 actually names the '.dll' as
mod_rewrite.so on windows. There's nothing special about the
'.dll' filename extension, a similar example is the .cpl
control panel extensions, which are .dll's that are loaded
into the system settings schema, .scr for screensaver dll's
following that API, etc.

In general, it's a good idea. My builds of php on win32
are entirely in the unix-style, for my customers who need
to toggle between win32 and unix. It makes the documentation
much simpler when you don't need two entirely different sets.

Bill

In the main, I think it would be very odd for Windows users to see .so
files in place of .dlls.

For those not aware, in windows the extension is linked to a handler
(Run, Open, Edit, Print, etc) via the registry.

A .dll file is known to be an "Application Extension" and has no
default Run/Open handler, though you can install something like a
resource explorer to examine the dll as they often contain menus,
bitmaps, icons, dialogs, etc (resources).

So, making the files .so for compatibility to other OS's, as far as
windows goes, is fine.

But, confusing for many probably.

--

Richard Quadling
Zend Certified Engineer : http://zend.com/zce.php?c=ZEND002498&r=213474731
"Standing on the shoulders of some very clever giants!"