Browser shows time out while Server process is still running

Question

I am having following problem:

1. I am running BIG memory process but have divided memory load into smaller chunks so no CPU time out issue.
2. In the Server I am creating .xml files with around 100kb sizes and they will be created around 100+.
3. Now main problem is browser shows Response Time out and IE at the below (just upper status bar) shows .php file download message.
4. During this in the backend (Server side) process is still running and continuously creating .xml files in incremental order. So no issue with that.

I have following php.ini configuration.

max_execution_time = 10000     ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds
max_input_time = 10000 ; Maximum amount of time each script may spend parsing request data
memory_limit = 2000M      ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (128MB)
; Maximum allowed size for uploaded files.
upload_max_filesize = 2000M

I am running my site on IE. And I am using ZSCE with PHP 5.3

Can anybody redirect me on proper way on this issue?

Edit:

Uploading image of Time out and that's why asking for .php file download.

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Edit 2:

I briefly explain my execution flow:

1. I have one PHP file with objects of Class Hierarchies which will start to execute Function1() from each class Hierarchy.
2. I have class file.
3. First, let say, Function1() is executed which contains logic of creating XML files in chunks.
4. Second, let say, Function2() is executed which will display output generated by Function1().

All is done in Class Hierarchies manner. So I can't terminate, in between, execution of Function1() until it get executed. And after that Function2() will be called.

Edit 3:

This is specially for @hakre.

As you asked some cross questions and I agree with some points but let me describe more in detail about the issue.

1. First I was loading around 100+ MB size XML Files at a time and that's why my Memory in local setup was hanging and stops everything on Machine and CPU time was utilizing its most resources.

2. I, then, divided this big size XML files in to small size (means now I am loading single XML file at a time and then unloading it after its usage). This saved me from Memory overload and CPU issue on local setup.

3. Now my backend process is running no CPU or Memory issue but issue is with Browser Timeout. I even tried cURL but as per my current structure it does seems to fit because of my class hierarchy issue. I have a set of classes in hierarchy and they all execute first their Process functions and then they all execute their Output functions. So unless and until Process functions get executed the Output functions do not comes in picture and that's why Browser shows Timeout.

4. I even followed instructions suggested by @vortex and got little success but not what I am looking for. Why I could not implement cURl because My process function is Creating required XML files at one go so it's taking too much time to output to Browser. As Process function is taking that much time no output is possible to assign to client unless and until it get completed.

cURL Output:

URL....: myurl 

Code...: 200 (0 redirect(s) in 0 secs) 

Content: text/html Size: -1 (Own: 433) Filetime: -1 

Time...: 60.437 Start @ 60.437 (DNS: 0 Connect: 0.016 Request: 0.016) 

Speed..: Down: 7 (avg.) Up: 0 (avg.) 

Curl...: v7.20.0 

Contents of test.txt file

* About to connect() to mylocalhost port 80 (#0)

*   Trying 127.0.0.1... * connected

* Connected to mylocalhost (127.0.0.1) port 80 (#0)

\> GET myurl HTTP/1.1
Host: mylocalhost
Accept: */*

< HTTP/1.1 200 OK

< Date: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 10:01:36 GMT

< Server: Apache/2.2.21 (Win32) mod_ssl/2.2.21 OpenSSL/0.9.8o

< X-Powered-By: PHP/5.3.9-ZS5.6.0 ZendServer

< Set-Cookie: ZDEDebuggerPresent=php,phtml,php3; path=/

< Cache-Control: private

< Transfer-Encoding: chunked

< Content-Type: text/html

< 
* Connection #0 to host mylocalhost left intact

* Closing connection #0

Disclaimer : An answer for this question is chosen based on the first little success based on answer selected. The solution from @Hakre is also feasible when this type of question is occurred. But right now no answer fixed my question but little bit. Hakre's answer is also more detail in case of person finding for more details about this type of issues.

Answer 1

1. I am running BIG memory process but have divided memory load into smaller chunks so no CPU time out issue.

Now that's a wild guess. How did you find out it was a CPU time out issue in the first place? Did you even? If yes, what does your test now gives? If not, how do you test now that this is not a time-out issue?

Despite you state there won't be a certain issue, you don't proof that and many questions are still open. That invites for guessing which is counter-productive for trouble-shooting (which you are doing here).

What you write here just means that you wrote code to chunk memory, however, this is not a test for CPU time out issues. The one is writing code the other part is test. Don't mix the two. And don't draw wild assumptions. Issues are for the test, otherwise it didn't happen.

So much for your first point already just to show you that when doing troubleshooting, look for facts (monitor, test, profile, step-debug) not run assumptions. This is curcial otherwise you look in the wrong places and ask the wrong questions.

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From what you describe how the client (browser) behaves, this is not a time-out-issue per-se. The problem you've got is that the answer between the header response and the body response is taking to long for the taste of your browser. The one browser is assuming a time-out (as such a boundary value has been triggered and this looks more correct to me) and the other browser is assuming somthing is coming up, why not save it.

So you merely have a processing issue here. Please consult the menual of your internet browsers (HTTP clients) which configuration values you can change to change this behavior. E.g. monitor with a curl-request on the command-line how long the request actually take. Then configure your browser to not time-out when connecting to that server under such an amount of time you just measured. For example if you're using Internet Explorer: http://www.ehow.com/how_6186601_change-internet-timeout-options.html or if you're using Mozilla Firefox: http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=102322&start=0

As you didn't show any code on the server-side I assume you want to solve this problem with client settings. Curl will help you to measure the number of seconds such a request takes. Use the -v (Verbose) switch to obtain detailed information about the request.

In case you don't want to solve this on the client, curl will still help you to measure important data and easily reproduce any underlying server-related timing issue. So you should go for Curl on the command-line in any case, especially as looking into response-headers might reveal what triggers the (again) esoteric internet explorer behavior. Again the -v switch does reveal you request and response headers.

If you like to automate such tests with a PHP script, it's also possible with the PHP Curl Extension. This has been outlined in:

• Php - Debugging Curl

Answer 2

assuming you made all the server side modifications so you dodge a server timeout [i saw pretty much everyting explained above], in order to dodge browser timeout it is crucial that you do something like this

<?php
set_time_limit(0);
error_reporting(E_ALL);
ob_implicit_flush(TRUE);
ob_end_flush();

I can tell you from experience that internet explorer doesn't have any issues as long as you output some content to it every now and then. I run a 30gb database update everyday [that takes around 2-4 hours] and opera seems to be the only browser that ignores the content output. if you don't set "ob_implicit_flush" you need to do an "ob_flush()" after every piece of content.

References

1. ob_implicit_flush

2. ob_flush

if you don't use ob_implicit_flush at the top of your script as I wrote earlier, you need to do something like:

<?php
echo 'dummy text or execution stats';
ob_flush();

within your execution loop

Answer 3

Try to include set_time_limit(0); in your PHP script page.

The following links might help you.

http://php.net/manual/en/function.set-time-limit.php

http://php.net/manual/en/function.ignore-user-abort.php

Answer 4

You have 3 pages

1. Process - Creates the XML files and then updates a database value saying that the process is done

2. A PHP page that returns {true} or {false} based on the status of the process completion database value

3. An ajax front end, polling page 2 every few seconds to check weather the process is done or not

Long Polling

Answer 5

What is a "CPU time out issue"?

The right way to solve the problem is to run the heavy stuff asynchronously, in a seperate session group (not the webserver process tree).

Answer 6

Is it possible to send some output to browser from the script while it's still processing, even white space? If, then do it, it should reset the timeout counter.

If it's not possible, you have to increase the timeout of IE in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

You need ReceiveTimeout, if it's not there, create it as dword, and set the value in miliseconds.

Answer 7

I have had this issue several times, while reading large csv file and puting it in database. I solved it in way, that i divided the reading and putting in database process into smaller parts. Like i created a new table to make log of how much data is readed and inserted, and next time the page reloads itself and start from that position. So you can do it by creating one xml in one attempt,and reload page and start form next one. In this way the memory used by browser is refreshed. Hope it will help.

Answer 8

The problem is with your web-server, not the browser.

If you're using Apache, you need to adjust your Timeout value at httpd.conf or virtual hosts config.