Include python script/program in PHP

Question

I am new to Python and currently have to write a python program/script to be integrated inside PHP. Basically I have one stand-alone python program that will be executed through CRONTAB that grabs data from a remote device and exports the data to an XML file. I also have to write another python program/script to be include inside PHP to read the XML and echo/print the data onto the screen. So my question is that

1. What is the difference between python program and script? Given my python program, I included #!/usr/bin/env python at the beginning of the file but I still cant execute it using ./scriptName.py

2. How to include and run a python program/script inside the PHP file? Inside the python script, how to output the data using the same manner as echo in PHP? The include part in my PHP is:

    <td><p><img src="img/today.gif" alt="today" width="180" height="40" /></p> <?php include "monthphotos.php"; ?> <?php include "todayatcpp/index.php"; ?> </td> 

I am new to beginner programmer so some of my questions can be obscure. Sorry!

Answer 1

The only way you can run a python script inside of a PHP script is to use the exec call. With that you will be able to capture the output from the python script and be able to use it in PHP.