[UPHPU] Forking A Script

[Scott Hill]

On 7/23/07, Orson Jones <orson.uphpu at bookstore.usu.edu> wrote:
>
> Looking around php.net I found this
>
> http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.pcntl-fork.php
>
> You can do a standard fork() using php. Check it out.
>
> Orson



If you don't care about the child process after it is finished, you must do
a pcntl_signal(SIGCHLD,SIG_IGN); before the fork.  This will make the parent
process ignore any signal sent back by a dying child.  When the child
process sees that it's kill signal was either processed or ignored, it dies
quietly.  This prevents what is known as zombie or orphan processes in *nix,
which is a dead child process that has been shunned by its parent.  If you
want to track the process of the child process, leave out the pcntl_signal
and use pcntl_waitpid after the fork.  This is a very, very common occurance
in the *nix world.  For example, the apache server forks a child process for
every request on its socket(s).  And I don't care what anyone says (about XP
or Vista), Windows still sucks when it comes to forking any kind of process.

My humble $.02.

-- 
Scott Hill

"May you solve interesting problems" - Author Unknown
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." -
Sir Winston Churchill