assert
I recently came across this under PHP 4.4.4, it seems that the dl(); function generates an error/warning about registering the function if a test is done on an extension that is pre-loaded in the php.ini file (extension=gd.so).
<?php
$gd_is_shared = "shared-library";
if (function_exists('ImageCreateFromPNG') && !@dl('gd.so')) {
$gd_is_shared = "embedded";
}
print $gd_is_shared;
?>
The only purpose of this test is to determine if it is an embedded extension or a loaded extension.
I don't see this error occur under PHP 5.1.6 or PHP 5.2.0.
The test platform is Mac OS X 10.3.9 and Mac OS X 10.4.8
dl
(PHP 4, PHP 5)
dl — Loads a PHP extension at runtime
Description
int dl
( string $library
)
Loads the PHP extension given by the parameter library .
Use extension_loaded() to test whether a given extension is already available or not. This works on both built-in extensions and dynamically loaded ones (either through php.ini or dl()).
Parameters
- library
-
This parameter is only the filename of the extension to load which also depends on your platform. For example, the sockets extension (if compiled as a shared module, not the default!) would be called sockets.so on Unix platforms whereas it is called php_sockets.dll on the Windows platform.
The directory where the extension is loaded from depends on your platform:
Windows - If not explicitly set in the php.ini, the extension is loaded from c:\php4\extensions\ by default.
Unix - If not explicitly set in the php.ini, the default extension directory depends on
- whether PHP has been built with --enable-debug or not
- whether PHP has been built with (experimental) ZTS (Zend Thread Safety) support or not
- the current internal ZEND_MODULE_API_NO (Zend internal module API number, which is basically the date on which a major module API change happened, e.g. 20010901)
Return Values
Returns TRUE on success or FALSE on failure. If the functionality of loading modules is not available (see Note) or has been disabled (either by turning it off enable_dl or by enabling safe mode in php.ini) an E_ERROR is emitted and execution is stopped. If dl() fails because the specified library couldn't be loaded, in addition to FALSE an E_WARNING message is emitted.
Examples
Example #1 dl() examples
<?php
// Example loading an extension based on OS
if (!extension_loaded('sqlite')) {
if (strtoupper(substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3)) === 'WIN') {
dl('php_sqlite.dll');
} else {
dl('sqlite.so');
}
}
// Or, the PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX constant is available as of PHP 4.3.0
if (!extension_loaded('sqlite')) {
$prefix = (PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX === 'dll') ? 'php_' : '';
dl($prefix . 'sqlite.' . PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX);
}
?>
ChangeLog
| Version | Description |
|---|---|
| 5.3.0 | This function now throws an E_DEPRECATED notice on all sapi's except for CLI, CGI and Embed. |
Notes
Note: dl() is not supported in multithreaded Web servers. Use the extensions statement in your php.ini when operating under such an environment. However, the CGI and CLI build are not affected !
Note: As of PHP 5, the dl() function is deprecated in every SAPI except CLI. Use Extension Loading Directives method instead.
Note: Since PHP 6 this function is disabled in all SAPIs, except CLI, CGI and embed.
Note: dl() is case sensitive on Unix platforms.
Note: This function is disabled when PHP is running in safe mode.
add a note
User Contributed Notesdl
buildsmart at daleenterprise dot com
30-Dec-2006 06:33
30-Dec-2006 06:33
prozente
23-Nov-2006 08:57
23-Nov-2006 08:57
a note for mag_2000 at front dot ru
the line
$currentExtPath = ini_get('extension_dir');
would be better to be
$currentExtPath = realpath(ini_get('extension_dir'));
I came across some hosts that had ./ set at the extension_dir
docey
31-Dec-2005 02:37
31-Dec-2005 02:37
just some note to loading modules, they do not have to
be executable.
some examples below check for this but if an module is
not executable is does not mean you cant use it. it just
needs to be readable NOT executable.
although some modules might need this perhaps for some
reason i cannot think of, so here an example,
<?php
// fails to load mysql although it could be loaded.
if(is_executable("mysql.so")){
dl("mysql.so");
}
// loads mysql
if(is_readable("mysql.so")){
dl("mysql.so");
}
?>
watch out with this, as you can see mysql.so would not be
loaded and the script would fail. because its checked for
executable permissions although these are not needed.
mag_2000 at front dot ru
07-Dec-2005 04:13
07-Dec-2005 04:13
<?php
function dl_local( $extensionFile ) {
//make sure that we are ABLE to load libraries
if( !(bool)ini_get( "enable_dl" ) || (bool)ini_get( "safe_mode" ) ) {
die( "dh_local(): Loading extensions is not permitted.\n" );
}
//check to make sure the file exists
if( !file_exists( $extensionFile ) ) {
die( "dl_local(): File '$extensionFile' does not exist.\n" );
}
//check the file permissions
if( !is_executable( $extensionFile ) ) {
die( "dl_local(): File '$extensionFile' is not executable.\n" );
}
//we figure out the path
$currentDir = getcwd() . "/";
$currentExtPath = ini_get( "extension_dir" );
$subDirs = preg_match_all( "/\//" , $currentExtPath , $matches );
unset( $matches );
//lets make sure we extracted a valid extension path
if( !(bool)$subDirs ) {
die( "dl_local(): Could not determine a valid extension path [extension_dir].\n" );
}
$extPathLastChar = strlen( $currentExtPath ) - 1;
if( $extPathLastChar == strrpos( $currentExtPath , "/" ) ) {
$subDirs--;
}
$backDirStr = "";
for( $i = 1; $i <= $subDirs; $i++ ) {
$backDirStr .= "..";
if( $i != $subDirs ) {
$backDirStr .= "/";
}
}
//construct the final path to load
$finalExtPath = $backDirStr . $currentDir . $extensionFile;
//now we execute dl() to actually load the module
if( !dl( $finalExtPath ) ) {
die();
}
//if the module was loaded correctly, we must bow grab the module name
$loadedExtensions = get_loaded_extensions();
$thisExtName = $loadedExtensions[ sizeof( $loadedExtensions ) - 1 ];
//lastly, we return the extension name
return $thisExtName;
}//end dl_local()
?>
james at gogo dot co dot nz
19-Jul-2005 08:30
19-Jul-2005 08:30
WARNING: enable_dl/dl()
*********************
There is an exploit circulating currently which takes advantage of dl() to inject code into Apache which causes all requests to all virtual hosts to be redirected to a page of the attackers choice.
All operators of shared web hosting servers with Apache and PHP should disable dl() by setting enable_dl to off otherwise your servers are vulnerable to this exploit.
This exploit is generally known as flame.so (the object that is loaded into Apache) and flame.php (the php script that loads it).
Google gives more information:
http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=flame.so+flame.php
endofyourself at yahoo dot com
18-Oct-2003 08:12
18-Oct-2003 08:12
If you need to load an extension from the CURRENT local directory because you do not have privelages to place the extension in your servers PHP extensions directory, this function i wrote may be of use to you
<?php
/*
Function: dl_local()
Reference: http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.dl.php
Author: Brendon Crawford <endofyourself |AT| yahoo>
Usage: dl_local( "mylib.so" );
Returns: Extension Name (NOT the extension filename however)
NOTE:
This function can be used when you need to load a PHP extension (module,shared object,etc..),
but you do not have sufficient privelages to place the extension in the proper directory where it can be loaded. This function
will load the extension from the CURRENT WORKING DIRECTORY only.
If you need to see which functions are available within a certain extension,
use "get_extension_funcs()". Documentation for this can be found at
"http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.get-extension-funcs.php".
*/
function dl_local( $extensionFile ) {
//make sure that we are ABLE to load libraries
if( !(bool)ini_get( "enable_dl" ) || (bool)ini_get( "safe_mode" ) ) {
die( "dh_local(): Loading extensions is not permitted.\n" );
}
//check to make sure the file exists
if( !file_exists( $extensionFile ) ) {
die( "dl_local(): File '$extensionFile' does not exist.\n" );
}
//check the file permissions
if( !is_executable( $extensionFile ) ) {
die( "dl_local(): File '$extensionFile' is not executable.\n" );
}
//we figure out the path
$currentDir = getcwd() . "/";
$currentExtPath = ini_get( "extension_dir" );
$subDirs = preg_match_all( "/\//" , $currentExtPath , $matches );
unset( $matches );
//lets make sure we extracted a valid extension path
if( !(bool)$subDirs ) {
die( "dl_local(): Could not determine a valid extension path [extension_dir].\n" );
}
$extPathLastChar = strlen( $currentExtPath ) - 1;
if( $extPathLastChar == strrpos( $currentExtPath , "/" ) ) {
$subDirs--;
}
$backDirStr = "";
for( $i = 1; $i <= $subDirs; $i++ ) {
$backDirStr .= "..";
if( $i != $subDirs ) {
$backDirStr .= "/";
}
}
//construct the final path to load
$finalExtPath = $backDirStr . $currentDir . $extensionFile;
//now we execute dl() to actually load the module
if( !dl( $finalExtPath ) ) {
die();
}
//if the module was loaded correctly, we must bow grab the module name
$loadedExtensions = get_loaded_extensions();
$thisExtName = $loadedExtensions[ sizeof( $loadedExtensions ) - 1 ];
//lastly, we return the extension name
return $thisExtName;
}//end dl_local()
?>
tychay at php dot net
06-Jul-2003 12:15
06-Jul-2003 12:15
MacOS makes a distinction between dynamically loadable shared libraries and loadable modules of code (bundles). The former has an extension .dylib and the latter has an extension .so. The former is in Mac-O and the latter is in ELF.
Thus PHP's extensions are built as .so whereas the symbol PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX is bound (currently) to .dylib. I don't think this is the correct behavior, but nonetheless, it is the behavior as of PHP-5.0.0b2-dev. Right now, the config binds to SHLIB_SUFFIX_NAME (which is correctly bound to .dylib on Mac OS X). I imagine this is related to why there is so much trouble getting dl() to work on Mac OS X. (For instance, I have no trouble phpizing in a new shared library, but when compiling in stuff as shared... much evilness!)
BTW, to get dl() to work in Mac OS X you need to install the dlcompat library (via Fink, DarwinPorts, or Gentoo ports). Remember in the case of Fink, you better make sure your environment variables are adjusted to point to where dlcompat (and your other fink libraries) are.
terry