I still don't understand why PHP is needed at all.

If you have a file containing a bunch of SQL queries for mysql, why use PHP
to parse the file and run the queries?  mysql was made for running that
query on its own!  why the extra overhead?

mysql < queryfile.txt

(props to Jacob Cohen for the original post)


If you MUST use PHP (for example, the query file needs php to perform some
sort of manipulation or variable substitution) then why can't you just run
the php script directly?

PHP can be installed as an executable script interpreter.  Just run it on
the command line.

If it's installed as a server module (i.e. if you need to use a browser),
why do you need two separate pages (form and target)? why not just write
your cron job to call the target with the form variables in the URL query
string?
   (GET instead of POST)

http://server/target?var1=val1&var2=val2...

(props to Hermawan Haryanto for the original post)

Mebbe if these questions were answered clearly, we'd have a better
understanding of what your situation is, and the best solution for it.

nik