file_get_contents not returning php code

Question

I'm trying to define a string as a combination of hard coded characters and of the contents of another file. What I have tried is this.

$html = "<h1>
           ".file_get_contents("file.php", TRUE)."
        <h1>";

The problem is that only raw text is being returned from file.php. Whatever it is that PHP is supposed to echo isn't being echoed..

Ja͢ck · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-01 16:54:21Z

1

You need output buffering to do that:

function generate_h1()
{
    ob_start();
    include('file.php');

    return '<h1>' . ob_get_clean() . '</h1>';
}

$html = generate_h1();

2 Comments

Lance Over a year ago

Is there any way that I could put parameters on the URL? I don't think it's possible to pass variables along the URL path with require() or include(), is it?

Ja͢ck Over a year ago

@Lance if you're passing a URL to include(), you can pass parameters. I would advice against include() from remote location though.

ceejayoz · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-01 16:51:13Z

0

You need to use include or require instead of file_get_contents. file_get_contents won't execute a local file, it just gets its contents - the plain-text PHP code.

answered Feb 1, 2013 at 16:51

ceejayoz

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2 Comments

Lance Over a year ago

Well, $html = "<h1>".require("file.php")."</h1>"; wont work though. Is there something with a buffer that I need to do?

ceejayoz Over a year ago

Yes, @Jack's answer gives you info on doing that.

alxkls · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-01 16:55:53Z

0

file_get_contents() returns the actual source of a file and it does not use it as a script. What you need is either

include 'file.php'; //or
require 'file.php';

or better yet

include_once 'file.php';
require_once 'file.php';

This is better in case you have functions declared in file.php. If you include a file twice it will throw an error saying that a function has been declared more than once. so include_once if it's something that you can live without in case something happens to the file or require_once which will result a fatal error if the file does not exist.

answered Feb 1, 2013 at 16:55

alxkls

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