echo php tags in php

Question

I want to print php tags in php file so I am using

$variable="<?php   
include("./$folder/$folder.php"); 
?>";
echo "$variable";

but its giving me error

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING

Most IDEs provide syntax highlighting which help to indicate concatenation errors like this. Check out NetBeans or Eclipse (they're both free to download and use), or even Dreamweaver (which is available for a license fee). — Matt
– Matt, Commented Aug 29, 2012 at 18:57
@karthikr I fixed it but this is not the actual problem but I am trying to echo php tags <?php ?> in php file so its giving me error — user1613566
– user1613566, Commented Aug 29, 2012 at 19:00

user142162 · Accepted Answer · 2012-08-29 18:54:57Z

4

You need to escape the double quotes using the backslash character (\):

$variable="<?php   
include(\"./$folder/$folder.php\"); 
?>";

You can also clean up your echo expression by dropping the unnecessary quotes:

echo $variable;

answered Aug 29, 2012 at 18:54

user142162

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5 Comments

This will also interpolate the variable $folder - It is unclear whether or not this is desired behavior.

its not about double quotes (this is also a problem) but I am trying to echo php tags <?php ?> in php file so its giving me error

@user1613566: You'll need to pass the variable through the htmlentities function for the tags to be displayed properly.

@TimCooper Make that htmlspecialchars()

Alternatively, for the quick and dirty, you can represent your open and close angle brackets as < and > ie: echo "<php ...";