How to schedule script without cron?

[deko]

Is there a way to get my script to run on regularly scheduled intervals
without using cron? My hosting provider sucks... cannot use cron... I was
thinking perhaps I could create a file every hour in a certain directory and
then fire the script when the file count reaches a certain number, and then
clear out the directory... or something like that. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[Edward Alfert]

"deko" <no****@hotmail .com> wrote in news:uZaJc.1031 6$8Y.3454
@newssvr25.news .prodigy.com:

on your most visited webpage, use some server side code that checks the
time and if it falls withing your interval range, then run some code.

this is what the log looks like:

Jul 13 2004 06:30 pm|68.110.65.24 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
Jul 13 2004 06:32 pm|68.127.69.10 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
Jul 13 2004 06:34 pm|203.12.69.23 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
Jul 13 2004 06:36 pm|64.122.69.14 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
Jul 13 2004 06:38 pm|68.110.69.26 |Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net

so if I can somehow analyze the date column...

if the bottom visit is less than [time() - 3600 * 24] then
move to the next line
else
run script

does this sound about right?

Doesn't your host provide analog, webalizer, awstats, or any of the other
free log analysys programs?

If not, does your hosting provide php and mysql?

Just log every visit to a mysql database and whenever you want to know
anything about your traffic pattern, query the database.

Select count(date) from visitors where date = dateyouwhattokn ow;

You can create whatever sql statement you want. This is the way I would do
it.

--
Edward Alfert
http://www.rootmode.com/
Multiple Domain Hosting and Reseller Hosting Plans
Coupon Code (Recurring $5/month Discount): newsgroup

[deko]

> create a "master" process, execute it in the background

$ ./timer &

that is in a loop:

loop
if nextinterval do something
wait until nextintervaltim e
goto loop

unless you are able to have access to the system level, you are out of luck. Any process not assoiciated with the server itself, would probably be detecteced and killed. Do yourself a favor, spend a few extra bucks, get DSL or Cable at a level that will allow you to run your own server (and use a hardware firewall). This can be done using DynamicDNS (static IP not necessary). You will not be able to use outbound SMTP because your IP address does not backtranslate, but that is no big deal. I use DDNS for inbound POP SMTP and my ISP for outbound. If your ISP has a history of lots of downtime during the day, then you may need to look for something more stable.

If they reboot the system for maintenance or whatever, you will have to restart your script. Use a box that you have control over... Trying to use ISP
"freebies" is really bad idea. Bottom line: if it is that important, get your own system to work with... BTW, I have 2 Linux boxes and one OpenVMS box on the net using DDNS (zoneedit.com). .. All can do {L|V}AMP, but they also do a

lot more :)

I was looking at DDNS a few weeks ago, but decided to go with a hosting
provider for portability purposes - that is, if I move, or change hosting
providers, my site is still up and email keeps coming. So uptime was
important, and also speed...

I do not have access to the server at my hosting provider, so, as you say,
I'm out of luck in terms of using a process-based schedule.

[deko]

> user@host:~> nohup bash -c '

while true ; do
echo run your prog here
sleep 3600
done'

that is a good suggestion, but I think a file-based solution might be more
reliable - for example, what if the server gets rebooted or something.

[deko]

> Right, Lets say your hosted site (domain.com) has a phpscript in /php/

called dorun.php that needs to be run every hour, every day add the
following line to your crontab

5 * * * 0-6 lynx http://www.domain.com/php/dorun.php

That sound like it would work, but then, potentially, anyone could kick off
my script. Is this correct? Also, forgive my ignorance, but what is lynx?

[deko]

> On every page load write the current date (not time) to a text file and

compare it to the previous line. If the date has changed, then count the
number of lines in the file (minus 1) and that is the number of hits the
previous day. Write this number to a different file including yesterday's
date and count.

I have the counter script already written - but I want to update the figures
every three hours and maintain a rolling count. So, every three hours the
figures for each interval (24h, 30d, 365d) are updated. This would be easy
to do with cron, but alas, cron cannot be used...

[deko]

> Doesn't your host provide analog, webalizer, awstats, or any of the other

free log analysys programs?
Yes, but this has a special purpose
If not, does your hosting provide php and mysql?

Yes, but I need a file-based solution

[deko]

> > Jul 13 2004 06:30 pm|68.110.65.24 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net

Jul 13 2004 06:32 pm|68.127.69.10 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
Jul 13 2004 06:34 pm|203.12.69.23 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
Jul 13 2004 06:36 pm|64.122.69.14 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
Jul 13 2004 06:38 pm|68.110.69.26 |Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net

so if I can somehow analyze the date column...

if the bottom visit is less than [time() - 3600 * 24] then
move to the next line
else
run script

does this sound about right?

Is there a way to get file modification time in php? Perhaps I could just
check the mod date of a file with each visit.

For example, each time the site is visited, write something to a file.
Then, a separate script checks that file's mod date. If the mod date is 3
hours old, then run the script. Do you think this would work?

[oeb -=- bleh bleh bleh]

"deko" <no****@hotmail .com> wrote in message
news:E6******** *********@newss vr25.news.prodi gy.com...

Right, Lets say your hosted site (domain.com) has a phpscript in /php/
called dorun.php that needs to be run every hour, every day add the
following line to your crontab

5 * * * 0-6 lynx http://www.domain.com/php/dorun.php
That sound like it would work, but then, potentially, anyone could kick

off my script. Is this correct? Also, forgive my ignorance, but what is lynx?

lynx is a text based browser that ships with most linux distros.

You could always put a clause in the script to only allow you to run it (For
example must have a certain password, or http authentication. ) but otherwise
anyone could run it yes.

[Edward Alfert]

"deko" <no****@hotmail .com> wrote in
news:Ki******** ********@newssv r25.news.prodig y.com:

> Jul 13 2004 06:30 pm|68.110.65.24 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
> Jul 13 2004 06:32 pm|68.127.69.10 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
> Jul 13 2004 06:34 pm|203.12.69.23 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
> Jul 13 2004 06:36 pm|64.122.69.14 1|Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
> Jul 13 2004 06:38 pm|68.110.69.26 |Windows 95|MSIE 5|pacbell.net
>
> so if I can somehow analyze the date column...
>
> if the bottom visit is less than [time() - 3600 * 24] then
> move to the next line
> else
> run script
>
> does this sound about right?

Is there a way to get file modification time in php? Perhaps I could
just check the mod date of a file with each visit.

For example, each time the site is visited, write something to a file.
Then, a separate script checks that file's mod date. If the mod date
is 3 hours old, then run the script. Do you think this would work?

yes... take a look at user comments at
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.fileatime.php
--
Edward Alfert
http://www.rootmode.com/
Multiple Domain Hosting and Reseller Hosting Plans
Coupon Code (Recurring $5/month Discount): newsgroup

[deko]

> You could always put a clause in the script to only allow you to run it
(For

example must have a certain password, or http authentication. ) but otherwise anyone could run it yes.

Perhaps I could check the modification date of a file with php and base my
scheduling on that. I could use lynx simply to visit the site at 12:00 each
day, which would create a benchmark file. Then my script checks the mod
date of that file... woudl this work? How to check the mod date of a file
with php?

I would like to know more abotu using lynx and authentication - for example,
can I automate a login to my bank's online banking page to get my bank
balance each day? Of course, that site uses encription and probally a bunch
of other security I don't understand...