php script not providing output for Cacti interface to rrdtool

not directly PHP related, but the cacti list appears to be devoid of life, and since it is written in PHP and I am trying to outsorce the data collection to a php script, hoping that someone on the list here has come across this. have been unsuccessful in getting Cacti to recognize and get data from a PHP script; Cacti:Data Input Source Configuration Name "Get Something" Input "/usr/local/custom/myscript.php <VAR>" Output "<RESULT>" Cacti:Current Data Input Source Fields RESULT RESULT Output Yes VAR VAR Input No when I go to Cacti:"Cron Printout" to ensure it is pulling the results correctly I see "/usr/local/custom/myscript.php MYVAR" "" When I run the same script via the shell I get nx# /usr/local/custom/myscript.php MYVAR 76 nx# Have tried formatting the string, removing line feeds and cr, running out of ideas here. simple test script looks like the following -- begin myscript.php -- #!/usr/local/bin/php -q <?PHP $type=$argv[1]; if($type=='MYVAR'){ echo '76'."\n"; } ?> -- end myscript.php -- Thoughts? Dave