Using PHP with Java - A Custom Job
( Page 4 of 7 )

Now, the example on the previous page used a built-in Java class to demonstrate PHP/Java connectivity. It's also possible to instantiate and use a custom Java class in a PHP script. I'll demonstrate this by encapsulating the functionality of the core File class in my own FileReader class.

Here's the code for my custom class:

import java.io.*;

public class FileReader 
{

	public File LocalFile;

	// set file location
	public void loadFile(String FileName) 
	{
  LocalFile = new File(FileName);
	}

	// return file size
	public long getFileSize() 
	{
  return LocalFile.length();
	}

	// check if file exists
	public boolean FileExists() 
	{
  return LocalFile.exists();
	}

	// return file path
	public String getFilePath() 
	{
  return LocalFile.getAbsolutePath();
	}

}

There's no rocket science here - this class is only a wrapper for core File class methods. However, it will serve to demonstrate the basics of using a custom Java class in a PHP script.

Now, compile the class, copy the compiled code to your Java CLASSPATH, and write a script to use it.

<?php

$myClass = new Java("FileReader");

$myClass->loadFile("/home/john/test.txt");

if($myClass->FileExists()) 
{
	echo "File size is " . $myClass->getFileSize() . "<br>";
	echo "File path is " . $myClass->getFilePath();

} 
else 
{
	echo "Sorry, the file " . $myClass->getFilePath() . " could not
be found"; }

?> 

This is similar to the first example, except that, this time, I've used my own custom Java class in the script. Once an instance of the class has been instantiated, class methods can be accessed in the normal manner.

Here's what the output looks like:

File size is 385
File path is /home/john/test.txt

Next up, passing one Java object to another.

>>> More PHP Articles          >>> More By Harish Kamath, (c) Melonfire