[cairo] PHP to cairo

[Pierre]

Hi,

On 7/17/06, Mark Dixon <mdixon at knowvantage.com> wrote:
> Would a PHP language binding for cairo need to be developed in C?

Yes, you need C. I was waiting 1.2.x to be able to freeze the API on
my side as well. It comes with a new image extension for php (not only
cairo but also a bunch of new bitmaps and IO features). It also brings
support for custom formats import/export for cairo.

1.2.x has been released but my free time is low these days (releases
festival in php...), but a first release is to be expected this
summer.

> It's a clunky idea, but is anyone aware of a technical reason why it couldn't work?

You can do that or use a pecl extension, like python or perl. They
allow you to run perl or python script from php. But I will not
recommend them in production.

> I am developing apps using PHP for GIS mapping, and while the GD image
> library gives me the functionality I need, the quality of the output
> doesn't come close to cairo, which is why I'm willing to try just about
> anything to allow PHP to work with cairo.

It depends on which format you need, but for bitmaps it is possible
some good results with the bundled GD (in the meantime). I also
maintain GD, if there is buggy results, let me know :)

Cheers,
--Pierre