PHP socket_get_status Function

last modified April 4, 2025

The PHP socket_get_status function retrieves information about a socket stream. It’s useful for monitoring socket connections in network programming.

Basic Definition

socket_get_status returns an array with socket stream metadata. It provides details like timed_out, blocked, eof, and unread_bytes.

Syntax: socket_get_status(resource $socket): array. Returns an associative array with socket status information. Requires an active socket connection.

Basic Socket Status Check

This example shows how to get basic status information from a socket.

basic_status.php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

$socket = fsockopen(“www.example.com”, 80); $status = socket_get_status($socket);

print_r($status); fclose($socket);

This connects to example.com on port 80 and retrieves socket status. The output shows various connection parameters and state information.

Checking for Timeout

This demonstrates checking if a socket operation has timed out.

timeout_check.php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

$socket = fsockopen(“www.example.com”, 80); stream_set_timeout($socket, 1);

fread($socket, 10000); // Force potential timeout $status = socket_get_status($socket);

echo $status[’timed_out’] ? “Timeout occurred” : “No timeout”; fclose($socket);

This sets a short timeout and checks if the read operation timed out. The timed_out flag helps detect connection issues in network applications.

Monitoring Unread Bytes

This example shows how to check for unread bytes in the socket buffer.

unread_bytes.php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

$socket = fsockopen(“www.example.com”, 80); fwrite($socket, “GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nHost: www.example.com\r\n\r\n”);

$status = socket_get_status($socket); echo “Unread bytes: " . $status[‘unread_bytes’]; fclose($socket);

After sending a request, this checks how many bytes remain unread. This helps manage buffer sizes and optimize network communication.

Checking End-of-File Status

This demonstrates checking if the socket has reached end-of-file.

eof_check.php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

$socket = fsockopen(“www.example.com”, 80); fwrite($socket, “GET / HTTP/1.0\r\nHost: www.example.com\r\n\r\n”);

while (!feof($socket)) { fread($socket, 1024); }

$status = socket_get_status($socket); echo $status[’eof’] ? “EOF reached” : “Data still available”; fclose($socket);

This reads until end-of-file and verifies the eof flag in the status. The eof flag indicates when no more data is available from the socket.

Complete Socket Monitoring

This shows a comprehensive socket monitoring example with all status flags.

complete_monitoring.php

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

function monitorSocket($host, $port) { $socket = fsockopen($host, $port); if (!$socket) return false;

$status = socket_get_status($socket);

echo "Socket status:\n";
echo "Timed out: " . ($status['timed_out'] ? 'Yes' : 'No') . "\n";
echo "Blocked: " . ($status['blocked'] ? 'Yes' : 'No') . "\n";
echo "EOF: " . ($status['eof'] ? 'Yes' : 'No') . "\n";
echo "Unread bytes: " . $status['unread_bytes'] . "\n";

fclose($socket);
return true;

}

monitorSocket(“www.example.com”, 80);

This function provides complete socket status monitoring in one call. It displays all important socket parameters for debugging and analysis.

Best Practices

• Error Handling: Always check if socket operations succeed

• Resource Management: Close sockets when done

• Timeout Configuration: Set appropriate timeouts

• Status Monitoring: Check status regularly

Source

PHP stream_get_meta_data Documentation

This tutorial covered the PHP socket_get_status function with practical examples for socket monitoring in network programming.

Author

My name is Jan Bodnar, and I am a passionate programmer with extensive programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. To date, I have authored over 1,400 articles and 8 e-books. I possess more than ten years of experience in teaching programming.

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