How to listen to a TCP port using PHP? [closed]

Question

I have a GPS Tracker that connects and send data to a defined public server:port through GPRS connection.

I can define the ip:port of the GPS device

My question is, can I just open a port in my server and listen/save the data received using PHP?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Edit/Update Aug. 16, 2017 : User and library author <@Navarr> has commented that he has released a new, updated version of the library the code in my original answer was based from. A link to the new code on his github here. Feel free to explore the new code and refer back to the original example here for insight (I have no personally explored/used the new code).

---

The below code will use the SocketServer.class.php file found here. It is meant to be run as a standalone process which means under Linux I had to make the file executable, then run it from command line using "php my_server.php". For more information on running php scripts from command line: http://www.funphp.com/?p=33

First grab the SocketServer.class.php file here: http://www.phpclasses.org/browse/file/31975.html

Try this to make use of it, then tweak it to handle receiving your own incoming data as needed. Hope it helps.

<?php

require_once("SocketServer.class.php"); // Include the File
$server = new SocketServer("192.168.1.6",31337); // Create a Server binding to the given ip address and listen to port 31337 for connections
$server->max_clients = 10; // Allow no more than 10 people to connect at a time
$server->hook("CONNECT","handle_connect"); // Run handle_connect every time someone connects
$server->hook("INPUT","handle_input"); // Run handle_input whenever text is sent to the server
$server->infinite_loop(); // Run Server Code Until Process is terminated.


function handle_connect(&$server,&$client,$input)
{
    SocketServer::socket_write_smart($client->socket,"String? ","");
}
function handle_input(&$server,&$client,$input)
{
    // You probably want to sanitize your inputs here
    $trim = trim($input); // Trim the input, Remove Line Endings and Extra Whitespace.

    if(strtolower($trim) == "quit") // User Wants to quit the server
    {
        SocketServer::socket_write_smart($client->socket,"Oh... Goodbye..."); // Give the user a sad goodbye message, meany!
        $server->disconnect($client->server_clients_index); // Disconnect this client.
        return; // Ends the function
    }

    $output = strrev($trim); // Reverse the String

    SocketServer::socket_write_smart($client->socket,$output); // Send the Client back the String
    SocketServer::socket_write_smart($client->socket,"String? ",""); // Request Another String
}

---

Edit: In keeping things relevant and functional for this answer I found it best not to continue to rely on code from an external source that may not always remain available (or at the given URL provided in my link). Therefore, for convenience, I am adding below the code that corresponds to the SocketServer.class.php file I linked to at the top of this post. (Apologies for length and possible lack of indentation/formatting while copy/pasting, I am not the author of the code below).

  <?php
  /*! @class SocketServer
   @author Navarr Barnier
   @abstract A Framework for creating a multi-client server using the PHP language.
   */
  class SocketServer
  {
    /*! @var config
     @abstract Array - an array of configuration information used by the server.
     */
    protected $config;

    /*! @var hooks
     @abstract Array - a dictionary of hooks and the callbacks attached to them.
     */
    protected $hooks;

    /*! @var master_socket
     @abstract resource - The master socket used by the server.
     */
    protected $master_socket;

    /*! @var max_clients
     @abstract unsigned int - The maximum number of clients allowed to connect.
     */
    public $max_clients = 10;

    /*! @var max_read
     @abstract unsigned int - The maximum number of bytes to read from a socket at a single time.
     */
    public $max_read = 1024;

    /*! @var clients
     @abstract Array - an array of connected clients.
     */
    public $clients;

    /*! @function __construct
     @abstract Creates the socket and starts listening to it.
     @param string - IP Address to bind to, NULL for default.
     @param int - Port to bind to
     @result void
     */
    public function __construct($bind_ip,$port)
  {
    set_time_limit(0);
    $this->hooks = array();

    $this->config["ip"] = $bind_ip;
    $this->config["port"] = $port;

    $this->master_socket = socket_create(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
    socket_bind($this->master_socket,$this->config["ip"],$this->config["port"]) or die("Issue Binding");
    socket_getsockname($this->master_socket,$bind_ip,$port);
    socket_listen($this->master_socket);
    SocketServer::debug("Listenting for connections on {$bind_ip}:{$port}");
  }

    /*! @function hook
     @abstract Adds a function to be called whenever a certain action happens. Can be extended in your implementation.
     @param string - Command
     @param callback- Function to Call.
     @see unhook
     @see trigger_hooks
     @result void
     */
    public function hook($command,$function)
  {
    $command = strtoupper($command);
    if(!isset($this->hooks[$command])) { $this->hooks[$command] = array(); }
    $k = array_search($function,$this->hooks[$command]);
    if($k === FALSE)
  {
    $this->hooks[$command][] = $function;
  }
  }

    /*! @function unhook
     @abstract Deletes a function from the call list for a certain action. Can be extended in your implementation.
     @param string - Command
     @param callback- Function to Delete from Call List
     @see hook
     @see trigger_hooks
     @result void
     */
    public function unhook($command = NULL,$function)
  {
    $command = strtoupper($command);
    if($command !== NULL)
  {
    $k = array_search($function,$this->hooks[$command]);
    if($k !== FALSE)
  {
    unset($this->hooks[$command][$k]);
  }
  } else {
    $k = array_search($this->user_funcs,$function);
    if($k !== FALSE)
  {
    unset($this->user_funcs[$k]);
  }
  }
  }

    /*! @function loop_once
     @abstract Runs the class's actions once.
     @discussion Should only be used if you want to run additional checks during server operation. Otherwise, use infinite_loop()
     @param void
     @see infinite_loop
     @result bool - True
     */
    public function loop_once()
  {
    // Setup Clients Listen Socket For Reading
    $read[0] = $this->master_socket;
    for($i = 0; $i < $this->max_clients; $i++)
  {
    if(isset($this->clients[$i]))
  {
    $read[$i + 1] = $this->clients[$i]->socket;
  }
  }

    // Set up a blocking call to socket_select
    if(socket_select($read,$write = NULL, $except = NULL, $tv_sec = 5) < 1)
  {
    // SocketServer::debug("Problem blocking socket_select?");
    return true;
  }

    // Handle new Connections
    if(in_array($this->master_socket, $read))
  {
    for($i = 0; $i < $this->max_clients; $i++)
  {
    if(empty($this->clients[$i]))
  {
    $temp_sock = $this->master_socket;
    $this->clients[$i] = new SocketServerClient($this->master_socket,$i);
    $this->trigger_hooks("CONNECT",$this->clients[$i],"");
    break;
  }
    elseif($i == ($this->max_clients-1))
  {
    SocketServer::debug("Too many clients... :( ");
  }
  }

  }

    // Handle Input
    for($i = 0; $i < $this->max_clients; $i++) // for each client
  {
    if(isset($this->clients[$i]))
  {
    if(in_array($this->clients[$i]->socket, $read))
  {
    $input = socket_read($this->clients[$i]->socket, $this->max_read);
    if($input == null)
  {
    $this->disconnect($i);
  }
    else
  {
    SocketServer::debug("{$i}@{$this->clients[$i]->ip} --> {$input}");
    $this->trigger_hooks("INPUT",$this->clients[$i],$input);
  }
  }
  }
  }
    return true;
  }

    /*! @function disconnect
     @abstract Disconnects a client from the server.
     @param int - Index of the client to disconnect.
     @param string - Message to send to the hooks
     @result void
     */
    public function disconnect($client_index,$message = "")
  {
    $i = $client_index;
    SocketServer::debug("Client {$i} from {$this->clients[$i]->ip} Disconnecting");
    $this->trigger_hooks("DISCONNECT",$this->clients[$i],$message);
    $this->clients[$i]->destroy();
    unset($this->clients[$i]);
  }

    /*! @function trigger_hooks
     @abstract Triggers Hooks for a certain command.
     @param string - Command who's hooks you want to trigger.
     @param object - The client who activated this command.
     @param string - The input from the client, or a message to be sent to the hooks.
     @result void
     */
    public function trigger_hooks($command,&$client,$input)
  {
    if(isset($this->hooks[$command]))
  {
    foreach($this->hooks[$command] as $function)
  {
    SocketServer::debug("Triggering Hook '{$function}' for '{$command}'");
    $continue = call_user_func($function,$this,$client,$input);
    if($continue === FALSE) { break; }
  }
  }
  }

    /*! @function infinite_loop
     @abstract Runs the server code until the server is shut down.
     @see loop_once
     @param void
     @result void
     */
    public function infinite_loop()
  {
    $test = true;
    do
  {
    $test = $this->loop_once();
  }
    while($test);
  }

    /*! @function debug
     @static
     @abstract Outputs Text directly.
     @discussion Yeah, should probably make a way to turn this off.
     @param string - Text to Output
     @result void
     */
    public static function debug($text)
  {
    echo("{$text}\r\n");
  }

    /*! @function socket_write_smart
     @static
     @abstract Writes data to the socket, including the length of the data, and ends it with a CRLF unless specified.
     @discussion It is perfectly valid for socket_write_smart to return zero which means no bytes have been written. Be sure to use the === operator to check for FALSE in case of an error.
     @param resource- Socket Instance
     @param string - Data to write to the socket.
     @param string - Data to end the line with. Specify a "" if you don't want a line end sent.
     @result mixed - Returns the number of bytes successfully written to the socket or FALSE on failure. The error code can be retrieved with socket_last_error(). This code may be passed to socket_strerror() to get a textual explanation of the error.
     */
    public static function socket_write_smart(&$sock,$string,$crlf = "\r\n")
  {
    SocketServer::debug("<-- {$string}");
    if($crlf) { $string = "{$string}{$crlf}"; }
    return socket_write($sock,$string,strlen($string));
  }

    /*! @function __get
     @abstract Magic Method used for allowing the reading of protected variables.
     @discussion You never need to use this method, simply calling $server->variable works because of this method's existence.
     @param string - Variable to retrieve
     @result mixed - Returns the reference to the variable called.
     */
    function &__get($name)
  {
    return $this->{$name};
  }
  }

  /*! @class SocketServerClient
   @author Navarr Barnier
   @abstract A Client Instance for use with SocketServer
   */
  class SocketServerClient
  {
    /*! @var socket
     @abstract resource - The client's socket resource, for sending and receiving data with.
     */
    protected $socket;

    /*! @var ip
     @abstract string - The client's IP address, as seen by the server.
     */
    protected $ip;

    /*! @var hostname
     @abstract string - The client's hostname, as seen by the server.
     @discussion This variable is only set after calling lookup_hostname, as hostname lookups can take up a decent amount of time.
     @see lookup_hostname
     */
    protected $hostname;

    /*! @var server_clients_index
     @abstract int - The index of this client in the SocketServer's client array.
     */
    protected $server_clients_index;

    /*! @function __construct
     @param resource- The resource of the socket the client is connecting by, generally the master socket.
     @param int - The Index in the Server's client array.
     @result void
     */
    public function __construct(&$socket,$i)
  {
    $this->server_clients_index = $i;
    $this->socket = socket_accept($socket) or die("Failed to Accept");
    SocketServer::debug("New Client Connected");
    socket_getpeername($this->socket,$ip);
    $this->ip = $ip;
  }

    /*! @function lookup_hostname
     @abstract Searches for the user's hostname and stores the result to hostname.
     @see hostname
     @param void
     @result string - The hostname on success or the IP address on failure.
     */
    public function lookup_hostname()
  {
    $this->hostname = gethostbyaddr($this->ip);
    return $this->hostname;
  }

    /*! @function destroy
     @abstract Closes the socket. Thats pretty much it.
     @param void
     @result void
     */
    public function destroy()
  {
    socket_close($this->socket);
  }

    function &__get($name)
  {
    return $this->{$name};
  }

    function __isset($name)
  {
    return isset($this->{$name});
  }
}