NAME

PHP::Include - Include PHP files in Perl

SYNOPSIS

use PHP::Include;
include_php_vars( 'file.php' );

DESCRIPTION

PHP::Include builds on the shoulders of Filter::Simple and Parse::RecDescent to provide a Perl utility for including very simple PHP Files from a Perl program.

When working with Perl and PHP it is often convenient to be able to share configuration data between programs written in both languages. One solution to this would be to use a language independent configuration file (did I hear someone say XML?). Another solution is to use Perl's flexibility to read PHP and rewrite it as Perl. PHP::Include does the latter with the help of Filter::Simple and Parse::RecDescent to rewrite very simple PHP as Perl.

Filter::Simple is used to enable macros (at the moment only one) which cause PHP to be interpolated into your Perl source code, which is then parsed using a Parse::RecDescent grammar to generate the appropriate Perl.

PHP::Include was designed to allow the more adventurous to add grammars that extend the complexity of PHP that may be included.

EXPORTS

import_php_vars( file )

This function is actually a macro that allows you to include PHP variable declarations in much the same way that you might require a file of Perl code. For example, given a file of PHP variable declarations:

    <?php

    $robot = 'Book Agent';
    $port = 80;
    $hosts = Array( 
	'www.amazon.com'	=> 'Amazon',
	'www.bn.com'		=> 'Barnes and Noble',
	'www.bookpool.com'	=> 'BookPool'
    );
    $times = Array( 10,12,14,16,18 );

    ?>

You can use this from your Perl program like so:

use PHP::Include;
include_php_vars( 'file.php' );

Behind the scenes the PHP is rewritten as this Perl:

    my $robot = 'Book Agent';
    my $port = 80;
    my %hosts = (
	'www.amazon.com'	=> 'Amazon',
	'www.bn.com'		=> 'Barnes & Noble',
	'www.bookpool.com'	=> 'BookPool'
    );
    my @times = ( 10,12,14,16,18 );

Notice that the enclosing <php? and ?> are removed, all variables are lexically scoped with 'my' and that the $ sigils are changed as appropriate to (@ and %). Apart from that PHP and Perl are very similar.

TODO

• ability to cause 'my' not to be inserted

• grammar additions to ignore comments

• assigning directly to array elements

• diagnostics on STDERR

• support other PHP code enclosures

• store compiled grammar if possible for speed gain

SEE ALSO

• PHP::Include::Vars

• Filter::Simple

• Parse::RecDescent

AUTHOR

Ed Summers, <ehs@pobox.com>

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE

Copyright 2002 by Ed Summers

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.