LXXV. Socket functions

The socket extension implements a low-level interface to the socket communication functions, providing the possibility to act as a socket server as well as a client.

The socket functions described here are part of an extension to PHP which must be enabled at compile time by giving the --enable-sockets option to configure.

For a more generic client-side socket interface, see fsockopen() and pfsockopen().

When using these functions, it is important to remember that while many of them have identical names to their C counterparts, they often have different declarations. Please be sure to read the descriptions to avoid confusion.

That said, those unfamiliar with socket programming can still find a lot of useful material in the appropriate Unix man pages, and there is a great deal of tutorial information on socket programming in C on the web, much of which can be applied, with slight modifications, to socket programming in PHP.

Example 1. Socket example: Simple TCP/IP server

This example shows a simple talkback server. Change the address and port variables to suit your setup and execute. You may then connect to the server with a command similar to: telnet 192.168.1.53 10000 (where the address and port match your setup). Anything you type will then be output on the server side, and echoed back to you. To disconnect, enter 'quit'.


<?php
error_reporting (E_ALL);

/* Allow the script to hang around waiting for connections. */
set_time_limit (0);

$address = '192.168.1.53';
$port = 10000;

if (($sock = socket (AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) < 0) {
    echo "socket() failed: reason: " . strerror ($sock) . "\n";
}

if (($ret = bind ($sock, $address, $port)) < 0) {
    echo "bind() failed: reason: " . strerror ($ret) . "\n";
}

if (($ret = listen ($sock, 5)) < 0) {
    echo "listen() failed: reason: " . strerror ($ret) . "\n";
}

do {
    if (($msgsock = accept_connect($sock)) < 0) {
        echo "accept_connect() failed: reason: " . strerror ($msgsock) . "\n";
        break;
    }
    do {
        $buf = '';
        $ret = read ($msgsock, $buf, 2048);
        if ($ret < 0) {
            echo "read() failed: reason: " . strerror ($ret) . "\n";
            break 2;
        }
        if ($ret == 0) {
            break 2;
        }
        $buf = trim ($buf);
        if ($buf == 'quit') {
            close ($msgsock);
            break 2;
        }
        $talkback = "PHP: You said '$buf'.\n";
        write ($msgsock, $talkback, strlen ($talkback));
        echo "$buf\n";
    } while (true);
    close ($msgsock);
} while (true);

close ($sock);
?>
     

Example 2. Socket example: Simple TCP/IP client

This example shows a simple, one-shot HTTP client. It simply connects to a page, submits a HEAD request, echoes the reply, and exits.


<?php
error_reporting (E_ALL);

echo "<h2>TCP/IP Connection</h2>\n";

/* Get the port for the WWW service. */
$service_port = getservbyname ('www', 'tcp');

/* Get the IP address for the target host. */
$address = gethostbyname ('www.php.net');

/* Create a TCP/IP socket. */
$socket = socket (AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
if ($socket < 0) {
    echo "socket() failed: reason: " . strerror ($socket) . "\n";
} else {
    "socket() successful: " . strerror ($socket) . "\n";
}

echo "Attempting to connect to '$address' on port '$service_port'...";
$result = connect ($socket, $address, $service_port);
if ($result < 0) {
    echo "connect() failed.\nReason: ($result) " . strerror($result) . "\n";
} else {
    echo "OK.\n";
}

$in = "HEAD / HTTP/1.0\r\n\r\n";
$out = '';

echo "Sending HTTP HEAD request...";
write ($socket, $in, strlen ($in));
echo "OK.\n";

echo "Reading response:\n\n";
while (read ($socket, $out, 2048)) {
    echo $out;
}

echo "Closing socket...";
close ($socket);
echo "OK.\n\n";
?>
      

Table of Contents
accept_connect — Accepts a connection on a socket
bind — Binds a name to a socket
close — Closes a file descriptor
connect — Initiates a connection on a socket
listen — Listens for a connection on a socket
read — Read from a socket
socket — Create a socket (endpoint for communication)
strerror — Return a string describing a socket error
write — Write to a socket