# pclose

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

pclose — Closes process file pointer

### Description

pclose ( resource `$handle` ) : int

Closes a file pointer to a pipe opened by popen().

### Parameters

`handle`

  The file pointer must be valid, and must have been returned by a successful call to popen().

### Return Values

Returns the termination status of the process that was run. In case of an error then `-1` is returned.

> Note:

> If PHP has been compiled with --enable-sigchild, the return value of this function is undefined.

### Examples

Example #1 pclose() example

`<?php
$handle = popen('/bin/ls', 'r');
pclose($handle);
?>`

### Notes

> Note: Unix Only:

> pclose() is internally implemented using the `waitpid(3)` system call. To obtain the real exit status code the pcntl_wexitstatus() function should be used.

### See Also

- popen() - Opens process file pointer