before displaying output set it in a var

nielskg

Hi,

Is there a way to put all the HTML output of a PHP script in a var, even before displaying it in a browser?

So that is I want to display it I can do a
echo $page; or something?

van__

Ya, but the real optimal way to handle that is to use templates to read in files to a variable and replace your template values with your PHP variables, then you can output the entire page in one echo.

But, that's about as far as I'm going to go on this topic. You can opt to create your own template engine, or search around for the many available engines already in existence.

Either way, it's going to take some strategy and planning to implement that in a sitewide solution.

nielskg

I have already done it this way:

<?
ob_start("function_to_alter_output");
?>

HTML and PHP output

<?
ob_end_flush();

?>

What do you think?

van__

Output buffering is all fine and dandy.
But, that's not the equivelant of placing all your output into a single var.

I have a pretty extensive OO codebase that builds templates and winds up with a single constant that contains the formatted HTML page, which is then outputted via a single echo.

I use ob, but that's to invoke gzipping and allow headers to be written throughout the entire process flow till the page is sent
rather than relying upon it to flush all the data at once.