Loads a PHP extension at runtime
Syntax
dl(string $extension_filename): bool
Parameters
extension_filenameThe filename of the extension to load.
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:\php5\ 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, and 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)
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
Returns true on success or false on failure.
If the functionality of loading modules is not available or has been disabled (by setting enable_dl off 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.
Examples
1
<?
// load 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');
}
}
?>2
<?
// load an extension based on PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX
if(!extension_loaded('sqlite'))
{
$prefix = (PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX === 'dll') ? 'php_' : '';
dl($prefix . 'sqlite.' . PHP_SHLIB_SUFFIX);
}
?>
