Readline only reads the window size on startup or on SIGWINCH.  This means if the window is resized when not in a readline() call, the next call will have odd behavior due to confusion about the window size.

The work-around is to force Readline to re-read the window size by sending it SIGWINCH.  This is accomplished using the async interface, which installs the signal handler but returns control to PHP.

The following function is a drop-in replacement for readline(), but re-reads the window size every time:

<?
    function xreadline($prompt)
    {
        global $xreadline, $xreadline_line;
        $code = '$GLOBALS["xreadline"] = false;' .
                '$GLOBALS["xreadline_line"] = $line;' .
                'readline_callback_handler_remove();';
        $cb = create_function('$line', $code);
        readline_callback_handler_install($prompt, $cb);
        $signal = defined("SIGWINCH") ? SIGWINCH : 28;
        posix_kill(posix_getpid(), $signal);
        $xreadline = true;
        while ($xreadline)
            readline_callback_read_char();
        return is_null($xreadline_line) ? false : $xreadline_line;
    }
?>

re to: ds at NOSPAM dot undesigned dot org dot za

cool program! note when trying to exec() something:
in the while loop you need to reset exec() returns or you will get all results of all executions (on my my windows and or cygwin :-( 
like:
<?php
// your class prompt()

echo "Enter something or 'exit' to quit\n";
do {
    $cmdline = new prompt();
    $buffer = $cmdline->get('shell command: ');
// init/ reset first!
    $data = null;
    $return = null;
// now start:
    echo "You said: $buffer\n";
    if (!empty($buffer)) {
        $x = exec($buffer, $data, $return);
        print_r($data);
    }
} while ($buffer !== "exit");
echo "Goodbye\n";

Windows.
To the current date,  PHP 8.1 64bits under Windows does not support all the functions:

supported:
readline_add_history                                                                 
readline_clear_history                                                               
readline_completion_function                                                         
readline_info                                                                        
readline_list_history                                                                
readline_read_history                                                                
readline_write_history                                                               
readline    
                                                                         
no supported: (the function is not even defined)

readline_callback_handler_install
readline_callback_handler_remove
readline_callback_read_char
readline_on_new_line
readline_redisplay

if you want to read a key in windows (without blocking), you can use the next code:

$out='';
$ret='';
$keys='1234567890abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'."á";
$default="á";
while(true) {
    exec("choice /N /C $keys /D $default /T 1",$out,$ret);
    if($out[0]!=="á") {
        var_dump($out[0]);
    }
    $out=[];
}

It is not elegant and it calls choice every 1 second but it does the job (at least with some keys).

There is a simpler way to do a multiline read than above:

function multiline() {
    while(($in = readline("")) != ".")
        $story .= ($PHP_OS == "WINNT") ? "\r\n".$in :
                                         "\n".$in;

    return $story;
}

[Ed. note: you can use fopen("php://stdin", "w") to achieve the same thing, works on both Windows and Unix)]

I wanted to get console input in a PHP script running on windows, so I made a little hack, which is so simple, it is clearly public domain.  What I did was write a C++ program to get a line, then output it.  Then all that is needed is to exec() that program and capture the output - readline() for windows.  The C++ source is as follows:

#include <iostream.h>
#include <string>
void main()
{
    string input;
    cin >> input;
    cout << input;
}

It works wonderfully for my purposes, since I love the PHP language and want to have console input.

Justin Henck

Here's an easy way without readline() if you don't have it compiled in already:

   $fp = fopen("php://stdin","r");
   $line = rtrim(fgets($fp, 1024);

You can open /dev/tty on unix systems or \con in windows, with ob_implicit_flush(true) to write output unbuffered.  Works like a charm :-)

-------------------------------

#!/usr/local/bin/php -q
<?php

set_time_limit(0);
@ob_end_flush();
ob_implicit_flush(true);

class prompt {
  var $tty;

  function prompt() {
    if (substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3) == "WIN") {
      $this->tty = fOpen("\con", "rb");
    } else {
      if (!($this->tty = fOpen("/dev/tty", "r"))) {
        $this->tty = fOpen("php://stdin", "r");
      }
    }
  }

  function get($string, $length = 1024) {
    echo $string;
    $result = trim(fGets($this->tty, $length));
    echo "\n";
    return $result;
  }
}

echo "Enter something or 'exit' to quit\n";
do {
  $cmdline = new prompt();
  $buffer = $cmdline->get("Something: ");
  echo "You said: $buffer\n";
} while ($buffer !== "exit");
echo "Goodbye\n";

?>

Even better than 'plz at dont dot spam' in only one line :) :

@c:\\php\\cli\\php.exe script.php %*

Cheers,
Jean-Charles

Here's an example simple readline-like way to input from command line on windows - the single line is from http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/darrell20000319.php3, the multiline is something I added...

<?
function read () {
    # 4092 max on win32 fopen

    $fp=fopen("php://stdin", "r");
    $in=fgets($fp,4094);
    fclose($fp);

    # strip newline
    (PHP_OS == "WINNT") ? ($read = str_replace("\r\n", "", $in)) : ($read = str_replace("\n", "", $in));

    return $read;
}

function multilineread () {
    do {
        $in = read();

        # test exit
        if ($in == ".") return $read;

        # concat input
        (PHP_OS == "WINNT") ? ($read = $read . ($read ? "\r\n" : "") . $in) : ($read = $read . "\n" . $in);

    } while ($inp != ".");

    return $read;
}

print("End input with . on line by itself.\n");

print("What is your first name?\n");
$first_name = multilineread();

print("What is your last name?\n");
$last_name = read();

print("\nHello, $first_name $last_name! Nice to meet you! \n");
?>

To get all arguments passed to a batch file in one variable
rather than using %1 %2 %3 etc;

:LOOP
if "%1" == "" goto DONE
set args=%args% %1
shift
goto LOOP
:DONE
@c:\\php\\cli\\php.exe script.php %args%
set args=