Using R with Apache & PHP [closed]

Question

Is there anyway to run R scripts through Apache and PHP? I would like to be able to pass variables from PHP to R.

Has anyone done something like this?

Essentially, I would like to know if there is a method for passing variables from PHP to R on an apache server.

Answer 1

See the R-FAQ:

Two projects use PHP to provide a web interface to R. R_PHP_Online by Steve Chen (though it is unclear if this project is still active) is somewhat similar to the above Rcgi and Rweb. R-php is actively developed by Alfredo Pontillo and Angelo Mineo and provides both a web interface to R and a set of pre-specified analyses that need no R code input.

and this paper: Using R via PHP for Teaching Purposes: R-php

Answer 2

Personally we used the R CMD BATCH interface to R to achieve this. It's not very elegant, but essentially we have a user pasting data into a form which is passed to PhP which generates a .R file with something

x = c(1,2,3,4); dev.off(); plot(x);

Then we get PhP to do an exec "R CMD BATCH "

In the directory you should then get Rplots.ps file which can be served to the client. Equally you can use the jpeg() function to return a jpeg picture of the graphic which can then be displayed on the web page PhP returns.

Not elegant at all, but it works for us.

Answer 3

Rserve now has support for php you can find more info at: http://code.google.com/p/rserve-php/