I am having a odd problem with PERL EXPECT. The routine I created is a simple routine to telnet to an IP Address. The routine works - as expected when run from the UNIX command line.

When I try and call the routine from PHP - via the exec(), shell_exec() or system() function - the routine doesn't work. The issue I am seeing - when spawning the routine from PHP is that the INPUT BUFFER (where the MATCH occurs) does not seem to "fully" update with the data received from the server I am logging into.

Example: Running routine from PHP - this is the output produced with EXP_INTERNAL set to "1":

spawn id(5): Does `Trying 10.13.81.123...\r\r\nConnected to coveaux.at
+m.ca (10.13.81.123).\r\r\nEscape character is \'^]\'
.\r\r\n'
match:
  pattern #1: -re `login:'? No.

Waiting for new data (50 seconds)...
TIMEOUT
[download]

Same routine from UNIX shell - this is the output produced with EXP_INTERNAL set to "1": (this is the expected output)

spawn id(3): Does `Trying 10.13.81.123...\r\r\nConnected to coveaux.at
+m.ca (10.13.81.123).\r\r\nEscape character is \'^]\'.\r\r\n\r\n\r\nSu
+nOS 5.8\r\n\r\r\n\r+-------------------------------------------------
+----------------------+\r\n|                               WARNING   
+                              |\r\n|                               --
+-----                                 |\r\n|                         
+                                              |\r\n| The programs and
+ data stored on this system are licensed to or are    |\r\n| private 
+property of this company and are lawfully available only to   |\r\n| 
+authorized users for approved purposes.  Unauthorized access to any  
+ |\r\n| program or data on this system is not permitted, and any unau
+thorized |\r\n| access beyond this point may lead to prosecution. Thi
+s system may be  |\r\n| monitored at any time for operational reasons
+, therefore, if you are  |\r\n| not an authorized user,              
+                                 |\r\n| DO NOT ATTEMPT TO LOG IN.    
+                                         |\r\n|                      
+                                                 |\r\n|              
+              Avertissement                              |\r\n|      
+                      -------------                              |\r\
+n|                                                                   
+    |\r\n| Les programmes et les données stockés dans ce système sont
+ visés par  |\r\n| une licence ou sont propriété privée de cette comp
+agnie et ils ne sont|\r\n| accessibles légalement qu\'aux usagers aut
+orisés a des fins autorisées.|\r\n| Il est interdit d\'y accéder sans
+ autorisation, et tout accès non      |\r\n| autorisé au dela de ce p
+oint peut entrainer des poursuites. Le système|\r\n| peut en tout tem
+ps faire l\'objet d\'une surveillance. Si vous n\'êtes   |\r\n| pas u
+n usager autorisé,                                               |\r\
+n| N\'ESSAYEZ PAS D\'Y ACCÉDER.                                      
+      |\r\n+---------------------------------------------------------
+--------------+\r\nlogin: '
match:
  pattern #1: -re `login:'? YES!!
[download]

Can anyone provide some help -- identifying any further debugging or a hint as to what could be happening.

Platform routine is running on: Solaris 10, running PERL 5.8.7 with appropriate libraries. Expect.pm module -> V1.20 Apache/2.2.2 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.2 OpenSSL/0.9.8b PHP/5.2.5