LXXVIII. PHP Options&Information

Introduction

This functions enable you to get a lot of information about PHP itself, e.g. runtime configuration, loaded extensions, version and much more. You'll also find functions to set options for your running PHP. The probably best known function of PHP - phpinfo() - can be found here.

Requirements

No external libraries are needed to build this extension.

Installation

There is no installation needed to use these functions; they are part of the PHP core.

Runtime Configuration

The behaviour of these functions is affected by settings in php.ini.

Table 1. PHP Options/Inf Configuration Options

NameDefaultChangeable
assert.active"1"PHP_INI_ALL
assert.bail"0"PHP_INI_ALL
assert.warning"1"PHP_INI_ALL
assert.callbackNULLPHP_INI_ALL
assert.quiet_eval"0"PHP_INI_ALL
enable_dl"1"PHP_INI_SYSTEM
max_execution_time"30"PHP_INI_ALL
magic_quotes_gpc"1"PHP_INI_PERDIR|PHP_INI_SYSTEM
magic_quotes_runtime"0"PHP_INI_ALL
For further details and definition of the PHP_INI_* constants see ini_set().

Here is a short explanation of the configuration directives.

assert.active boolean

Enable assert() evaluation.

assert.bail boolean

Terminate script execution on failed assertions.

assert.warning boolean

Issue a PHP warning for each failed assertion.

assert.callback string

user function to call on failed assertions

assert.quiet_eval boolean

Use the current setting of error_reporting() during assertion expression evaluation. If enabled, no errors are shown (implicit error_reporting(0)) while evaluation. If disabled, errors are shown according to the settings of error_reporting()

enable_dl boolean

This directive is really only useful in the Apache module version of PHP. You can turn dynamic loading of PHP extensions with dl() on and off per virtual server or per directory.

The main reason for turning dynamic loading off is security. With dynamic loading, it's possible to ignore all the safe_mode and open_basedir restrictions.

The default is to allow dynamic loading, except when using safe-mode. In safe-mode, it's always imposible to use dl().

max_execution_time integer

This sets the maximum time in seconds a script is allowed to run before it is terminated by the parser. This helps prevent poorly written scripts from tying up the server. The default setting is 30.

The maximum execution time is not affected by system calls, the sleep() function, etc. Please see the set_time_limit() function for more details.

magic_quotes_gpc boolean

Sets the magic_quotes state for GPC (Get/Post/Cookie) operations. When magic_quotes are on, all ' (single-quote), " (double quote), \ (backslash) and NUL's are escaped with a backslash automatically. If magic_quotes_sybase is also on, a single-quote is escaped with a single-quote instead of a backslash.

magic_quotes_runtime boolean

If magic_quotes_runtime is enabled, most functions that return data from any sort of external source including databases and text files will have quotes escaped with a backslash. If magic_quotes_sybase is also on, a single-quote is escaped with a single-quote instead of a backslash.

Resource Types

This extension has no resource types defined.

Predefined Constants

The constants below are always available as part of the PHP core.

Table 2. Pre-defined phpcredits() constants

ConstantDescription
CREDITS_ALL All the credits, equivalent to using: CREDITS_DOCS + CREDITS_GENERAL + CREDITS_GROUP + CREDITS_MODULES + CREDITS_FULLPAGE. It generates a complete stand-alone HTML page with the appropriate tags.
CREDITS_DOCSThe credits for the documentation team
CREDITS_FULLPAGE Usually used in combination with the other flags. Indicates that the a complete stand-alone HTML page needs to be printed including the information indicated by the other flags.
CREDITS_GENERAL General credits: Language design and concept, PHP 4.0 authors and SAPI module.
CREDITS_GROUPA list of the core developers
CREDITS_MODULES A list of the extension modules for PHP, and their authors
CREDITS_SAPI A list of the server API modules for PHP, and their authors

Table 3. phpinfo() constants

ConstantValueDescription
INFO_GENERAL1 The configuration line, php.ini location, build date, Web Server, System and more.
INFO_CREDITS2 PHP 4 Credits. See also phpcredits().
INFO_CONFIGURATION4 Current Local and Master values for php directives. See also ini_get().
INFO_MODULES8 Loaded modules and their respective settings.
INFO_ENVIRONMENT16 Environment Variable information that's also available in $_ENV.
INFO_VARIABLES32 Shows all predefined variables from EGPCS (Environment, GET, POST, Cookie, Server).
INFO_LICENSE64 PHP License information. See also the license faq.
INFO_ALL-1 Shows all of the above. This is the default value.
Table of Contents
assert_options -- Set/get the various assert flags
assert -- Checks if assertion is FALSE
dl -- Loads a PHP extension at runtime
extension_loaded -- Find out whether an extension is loaded
get_cfg_var --  Gets the value of a PHP configuration option
get_current_user --  Gets the name of the owner of the current PHP script
get_defined_constants --  Returns an associative array with the names of all the constants and their values
get_extension_funcs --  Returns an array with the names of the functions of a module
get_included_files --  Returns an array with the names of included or required files
get_loaded_extensions --  Returns an array with the names of all modules compiled and loaded
get_magic_quotes_gpc --  Gets the current active configuration setting of magic quotes gpc
get_magic_quotes_runtime --  Gets the current active configuration setting of magic_quotes_runtime
get_required_files --  Returns an array with the names of included or required files
getenv -- Gets the value of an environment variable
getlastmod -- Gets time of last page modification
getmygid -- Get PHP script owner's GID
getmyinode -- Gets the inode of the current script
getmypid -- Gets PHP's process ID
getmyuid -- Gets PHP script owner's UID
getrusage -- Gets the current resource usages
ini_alter --  Changes the value of a configuration option
ini_get_all -- Gets all configuration options
ini_get -- Gets the value of a configuration option
ini_restore -- Restores the value of a configuration option
ini_set -- Sets the value of a configuration option
php_logo_guid -- Gets the logo guid
php_sapi_name --  Returns the type of interface between web server and PHP
php_uname --  Returns information about the operating system PHP was built on
phpcredits -- Prints out the credits for PHP
phpinfo -- Outputs lots of PHP information
phpversion -- Gets the current PHP version
putenv -- Sets the value of an environment variable
set_magic_quotes_runtime --  Sets the current active configuration setting of magic_quotes_runtime
set_time_limit -- Limits the maximum execution time
version_compare --  Compares two "PHP-standardized" version number strings
zend_logo_guid -- Gets the zend guid
zend_version -- Gets the version of the current Zend engine