php man page for dl

DL(3)									 1								     DL(3)

dl - Loads a PHP extension at runtime

SYNOPSIS
       bool dl (string	$library)

DESCRIPTION
	Loads the PHP extension given by the parameter $library.

	Use  extension_loaded(3) to test whether a given extension is already available or not. This works on both built-in extensions and dynami-
       cally loaded ones (either through php.ini or dl(3)).

       Warning

	       This function has been removed from some SAPIs in PHP 5.3.

PARAMETERS
	      o $library
		- This 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.  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:php4extensions (PHP 4) or C:php5 (PHP 5) by default.  Unix
		- If not explicitly set in the php.ini, the default extension directory depends on

		     o whether PHP has been built with
		       --enable-debug or not

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

		     o the current internal
		       ZEND_MODULE_API_NO (Zend internal module API number, which is basically the date on which a major module  API  change  hap-
		       pened, e.g.  20010901)

	       Taking	into  account  the  above,  the  directory  then  defaults  to	<install-dir>/lib/php/extensions/  <debug-or-not>-<zts-or-
	      not>-ZEND_MODULE_API_NO,	e.g.   /usr/local/php/lib/php/extensions/debug-non-zts-20010901  or  /usr/local/php/lib/php/extensions/no-
	      debug-zts-20010901.

RETURN VALUES
	Returns TRUE on success or FALSE on failure. If the functionality of loading modules is not available or has been disabled (either by set-
       ting enable_dl off or by enabling safe mode in php.ini) an E_ERROR is emitted and execution is stopped. If dl(3) fails because  the  speci-
       fied library couldn't be loaded, in addition to FALSE an E_WARNING message is emitted.

EXAMPLES
       Example #1

	      dl(3) examples

	      <?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);
	      }
	      ?>

CHANGELOG
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       |Version |						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	|		     Description		    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
       | 5.3.0	|						    |
       |	|						    |
       |	| dl(3)  is  now disabled in some SAPIs due to sta- |
       |	| bility issues. The only SAPIs  that  allow  dl(3) |
       |	| are  CLI  and  Embed.  Use  the Extension Loading |
       |	| Directives instead.				    |
       |	|						    |
       +--------+---------------------------------------------------+
NOTES
       Note

	      dl(3) is not supported when PHP is built with ZTS support. Use the Extension Loading Directives instead.

       Note

	      dl(3) is case sensitive on Unix platforms.

       Note

	      This function is disabled when PHP is running in safe mode.

SEE ALSO
       Extension Loading Directives, extension_loaded(3).

PHP Documentation Group 														     DL(3)