escapeshellarg | PHP 4.0.3
string escapeshellarg(string arg) |
Quotes and escapes an argument for use in a shell command.

escapeshellcmd | PHP 3.0
string escapeshellcmd(string command) |
Escapes shell metacharacters.

exec | PHP 3.0
string exec(string command[, array output[, int return_value]]) |
Executes an external program.

passthru | PHP 3.0
void passthru(string command[, int return_value]) |
Executes an external program and displays raw output.

proc_close | PHP 4.3.0
int proc_close(resource process) |
Closes a process opened by proc_open().

proc_open | PHP 4.3.0
resource proc_open(string command, array descriptorspec, array &pipes) |
Run a process with more control over its file descriptors.

shell_exec | PHP 4.0
string shell_exec(string cmd) |
Executes command via shell and returns complete output as string.