neosin / bamcompile

Bambalam PHP EXE Compiler/Embedder

Bamcompile

Bambalam PHP EXE Compiler/Embedder

This project was abandoned long time ago by it's original author Anders Hammar. Latest official update was on 28th of August 2006. My plans are to implement PHP5 support instead of obsolete PHP4 and improve this software as well.

This software deserves a new chance. I have tried many PHP "compilers" and since only Bamcompiler was great, despite the fact that it is completely obsolete. Although I don't have many experience with compiling, neither I know how everything was put together, I will give it a try. Help is very welcome!!!

1. What is it? Bambalam PHP EXE Compiler/Embedder is a free command line tool to convert PHP applications to standalone Windows .exe applications. The exe files produced are totally standalone, no need for php dlls etc. The php code is encoded using the Turck MMCache Encode library so it's a perfect solution if you want to distribute your application while protecting your source code. The converter is also suitable for producing .exe files for windowed PHP applications (created using for example the WinBinder library). It's also good for making stand-alone PHP Socket servers/clients (using the php_sockets.dll extension). It's NOT really a compiler in the sense that it doesn't produce native machine code from PHP sources, but it works! The tool is free and open source. However, if you use it commercially (ie to make money in some way) you should make a donation to keep the project alive!

2. How does it work? The converter embeds encoded PHP source files as resources in a generic statically compiled PHP launcher executable. It also has an option to compress the final exe using the UPX executable compressor. Simple console applications end up with an executable at a size of 500-600kb.

3. Does "compiled" PHP applications run faster? Theoretically it should. Having libraries linked statically and encoding files (Turck MMCache encodes PHP sources as PHP bytecode, I think) should contribute to faster applications. But I haven't done any decent tests on it.

4. What about PHP applications with more than one source file? No problem, the converter is able to embed a whole project directory. Or, if you want, you can create a bamcompile project file (.bcp) and embed files from all over the place.

5. What about accessing the embedded files from php? You can access the embedded files just as you're used to. The PHP runtime used has been modified so that when you're accessing a file it first tries to access it the usual way (by looking in the path outside the .exe) and if the files aren't found there it looks for it in the embedded filelist.

6. So the INCLUDE statement works just as it should? Yes, as long as you include stuff using relative paths.

7. What PHP version is supported? Currently, the converter uses a PHP runtime based on PHP 4.4.4 Plans are to implement PHP5 and above.

8. What about PHP 5 support? I haven't got around to it, but I probably will! But PHP 4.4.4 works in most cases, and the PHP 4 runtimes produces alot smaller standalone exe files than PHP 5 would do. PHP 5 is a bitch to build on windows (well, it's easy to build the standard builds, but other than that..) But as I said, just wait for it.

9. What libraries / extensions are included? As of version 1.2, php libraries (or extensions) now can be embedded as needed. So, for example, if you're making an application that uses the gd extension, use the -e:php_gd2.dll option and you'll be fine. You can also use the EXTENSION command when working with bamcompile project files. You still have to have access to the php extension dll files when embedding of course, they are shipped together with the PHP distribution. But once you have compiled your exe, that's the only file you have to distribute! Note however that some extensions use other system dlls which needs to be shipped together with your compiled exe to make it work. Some examples:

php_curl.dll needs libeay32.dll and ssleay32.dll 
 php_mssql.dll needs ntwdblib.dll 
 php_fribidi.dll needs fribidi.dll 
 php_fdf.dll needs FDFTK.dll 
 php_ifx.dll needs isqlt09a.dll 
 php_mhash.dll needs ibmhash.dll 
 php_msql.dll needs mSQL.dll

But most of them, such as GD, Sockets, Winbinder and Sqlite don't need any system dlls and they embed just fine.

The following libraries are included statically:

 Turck
 MMCache 
 bcmath 
 calendar 
 com 
 ctype
 ftp
 mysql
 odbc
 pcre
 win32std
 xml zlib

10. Can I add a custom Icon to my exe? Yes, use the -i:icon.ico command line option or the ICON project file command.

11. What about PHP.INI? Can I embed that as well? Yes, just include the php.ini in the root of your project. However, if you want to use extensions, use the internal extension loader instead. Older versions of Bamcompile used the embedded php.ini to load extensions but it was messy and honestly didn't work that well. You can still embed php.ini to set ini specific settings.

12. What is the format of Bamcompile Project files? A project file has the extension .bcp and is built up using simple commands, one on each line:

 MAINFILE mainfile.php

Sets the mainfile to whatever mainfile you want to use.

 OUTFILE outfile.exe

Sets the output file exe name. Optional.

ICON icon.ico Sets an icon for the output exe file. Optional.

 COMPRESS

Compresses final exe file with UPX

 DONTENCODE

Do not encode php files

 WINDOWED

Windowed application, removes the "dos box" otherwise shown

 EMBED directory/file.php
 EMBED whole_directory
 EMBED directory/*.png

Used to embed files. You can embed single files, directories or files using a filters. Directories are embedded recursivly

 DESTINATION destination_path/

Sets the destination path in the embedded filesystem. Use the destination command before an embed command to change where the embedded files end up. The default destination path is, of course, the root /.

 EXTENSION path_to/extension.dll

Adds a PHP extension to the internal extension loader. The extension will be embedded and loaded from memory.

13. License Take a look at file LICENSE

Usage:

   bamcompile [-options] infile.php [outfile.exe]
   bamcompile [-options] project_directory mainfile.php [outfile.exe]
   bamcompile projectfile.bcp

Options:

    -w Hide console window for windowed applications
    -c Compress output exe (using UPX)
    -d Do not encode PHP files
    -e:extension.dll Embed and use PHP extension
    -i:icon.ico Add icon to exe

Revision history:

1.21 2006-08-28:

• Fixed an issue with apps using extensions crashing if php4ts.dll was in the system path

1.2 2006-08-24:

• Added an extension loader - extension dll's can now be embedded
• Added a project file feature
• Added support for exe icons
• UPX is now embedded, it's no longer needed in the system path
• Added some examples of PHP applications
• Upgraded to PHP 4.4.4
• Fixed some compatibility issues when running on a system with PHP installed
• Lots of minor bugfixes

1.1 2006-06-09:

• Added the php_sockets extension to the static build
• minor bugfixes