mbstring missing from phpinfo but enabled in php.ini

Question

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I have the same problem with mbstring. I enabled it in my php.ini

Answer 1

The problem is, that when PHP is loaded via apache, the extension_dir is apparently read relative to the apache server root dir.

But, starting from command line, it is read relative to the PHP root dir.

Thus, despite it being the same loaded php.ini, because I set the extension dir as ext instead of F:\PHP\5.4\ext, apache (or rather: PHP) searched for it in F:\Apache\2.4\ext, which it didn't find for obvious reasons.

Setting the extension_dir to an absolute folder solved the issue. Now apache and cmd both load the exact same configuration, including all extensions (which is exactly how I wanted it).