php shell_exec with realtime updating

Question

I have this shell program that I want to execute by php. The problem is that it can potentially take a long time, and as of that I need it to have real-time updating to the user's browser.

I read that I may need to use popen() to do that, but I am sort of (ok, I really am :P) a PHP noob and can't figure out how I may be able to do it.

Would appreciate any help!

Answer 1

if( ($fp = popen("your command", "r")) ) {
    while( !feof($fp) ){
        echo fread($fp, 1024);
        flush(); // you have to flush buffer
    }
    fclose($fp);
}

Answer 2

there is a dirty easy option

`yourcommand 1>&2`;

redirecting the stdout to the stderr.