Return same data from executable to php as in command prompt

Hi,

I've been trying to use passthru() exec() and system() to execute
Apache's htdbm.exe (htaccess user database) and to get some info
returned. For example I have tried as a test to htdbm -l .htpasswd, this
to return the users in the databaase. None of the functions return the
users in the database while the same string does do this in command
prompt. I know there is nothing wrong with the string because when I
replace some vars at the end I can add users to the database with php,
now it does return a message that this has been done.
Al I want is that the same thing that is being returned in command
prompt is also returned to PHP.

Thanks in advance, Maarten