skeleton

Skeleton

A minimal PHP extension built with phpz.

What's inside

• Functions: hello() prints a greeting, greet(string $name): string returns a personalized message
• Class: Counter has an optional initial value, add(int $n), dec(int $n), and value(): int

Project structure

.
├── build.zig              # Build config
├── build.zig.zon          # Dependencies
├── skeleton.h             # C header: phpz.h + generated arginfo
├── skeleton.stub.php      # PHP API declarations
├── skeleton_arginfo.h     # Generated arginfo (do not edit directly)
├── run-tests.php          # PHP PHPT test runner
├── src/
│   └── root.zig           # Module setup, functions, and Counter class
└── tests/
    ├── hello.phpt
    ├── greet.phpt
    └── counter.phpt

Regenerate arginfo

After changing skeleton.stub.php, regenerate skeleton_arginfo.h:

php /path/to/php-src/build/gen_stub.php skeleton.stub.php

Build and run

Unix

Build and run PHPT tests:

zig build run-tests -Dphp-include-dir="$(php-config --include-dir)"

If php-config is not available, pass the PHP include root directly:

zig build run-tests -Dphp-include-dir=/usr/include/php

Try it manually:

zig build -Dphp-include-dir="$(php-config --include-dir)"
php -dextension=./modules/skeleton.so -r 'hello();'
php -dextension=./modules/skeleton.so -r 'echo greet("World"), PHP_EOL;'
php -dextension=./modules/skeleton.so -r '$c = new Counter(5); $c->add(3); echo $c->value(), PHP_EOL;'

Windows

Windows builds require a PHP development package from php.net matching the runtime PHP version, architecture, thread safety mode, and debug mode.

Build and run PHPT tests:

zig build run-tests `
  -Dtarget=native-native-msvc `
  -Dphp-include-dir=C:\php-sdk\include `
  -Dphp-lib-dir=C:\php-sdk\lib

For a thread-safe PHP SDK/runtime, add -Dwindows-zts=true:

zig build run-tests `
  -Dtarget=native-native-msvc `
  -Dphp-include-dir=C:\php-sdk\include `
  -Dphp-lib-dir=C:\php-sdk\lib `
  -Dwindows-zts=true

Try it manually:

zig build `
  -Dtarget=native-native-msvc `
  -Dphp-include-dir=C:\php-sdk\include `
  -Dphp-lib-dir=C:\php-sdk\lib

php -dextension=.\modules\php_skeleton.dll -r "hello();"
php -dextension=.\modules\php_skeleton.dll -r 'echo greet("World"), PHP_EOL;'
php -dextension=.\modules\php_skeleton.dll -r '$c = new Counter(5); $c->add(3); echo $c->value(), PHP_EOL;'

Windows build options:

Option	Meaning
-Dtarget=native-native-msvc	Use the MSVC ABI required by PHP for Windows extensions.
-Dphp-include-dir=...	PHP SDK include root containing main, Zend, TSRM, and ext.
-Dphp-lib-dir=...	PHP SDK library directory containing the matching php8*.lib; required on Windows.
-Dwindows-zts=true	Link against the thread-safe PHP library, such as php8ts.lib. Omit for NTS builds.
-Dwindows-debug=true	Link against a debug PHP SDK/library. Omit for release PHP builds.
-Dlibc-file=...	Optional libc paths file, mainly useful for cross-compilation.