dl

Description

Loads the PHP extension given by the parameter library_ The library parameter is only the filename of the extension to load which also depends on your platform_ For example, the sockets extension (if compiled as a shared module, not the default!) would be called sockets_so on unix platforms whereas it is called php_sockets_dll on the Windows platform_

Devuelve TRUE si todo se llevó a cabo correctamente, FALSE en caso de fallo_ If the functionality of loading modules is not available (see Note) or has been disabled (either by turning it off enable_dl or by enabling safe mode in php_ini) an E_ERROR is emitted and execution is stopped_ If dl() fails because the specified library couldn't be loaded, in addition to FALSE an E_WARNING message is emitted_

Use extension_loaded() to test whether a given extension is already available or not_ This works on both built_in extensions and dynamically loaded ones (either through php_ini or dl())_

<?php
// Example loading an extension based on OS
if (!extension_loaded('sqlite')) {
    if (strtoupper(substr(PHP_OS, 0,3) == 'WIN')) {
        dl('php_sqlite_dll');
    } else {
        dl('sqlite_so');
    }
}

// Or, the PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX constant is available as of PHP 4_3_0
if (!extension_loaded('sqlite')) {
    $prefix = (PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX == 'dll') ? 'php_' : '';
    dl($prefix _ 'sqlite_' _ PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX);
}
?>

The directory where the extension is loaded from depends on your platform:

Windows _ If not explicitly set in the php_ini, the extension is loaded from c:\php4\extensions\ by default_

Unix _ If not explicitly set in the php_ini, the default extension directory depends on

• whether PHP has been built with __enable_debug or not

• whether PHP has been built with (experimental) ZTS (Zend Thread Safety) support or not

• the current internal ZEND_MODULE_API_NO (Zend internal module API number, which is basically the date on which a major module API change happened, e_g_ 20010901)

See also Extension Loading Directives and extension_loaded()_