(PHP 4 >= 4.3.0, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
ob_get_flush — Flush the output buffer, return it as a string and turn off output buffering
ob_get_flush() flushes the output buffer, return it as a string and turns off output buffering.
The output buffer must be started by ob_start() with PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_FLUSHABLE flag. Otherwise ob_get_flush() will not work.
Note: This function is similar to ob_end_flush(), except that this function also returns the buffer as a string.
This function has no parameters.
Returns the output buffer or false if no buffering is active.
Example #1 ob_get_flush() example
<?php
//using output_buffering=On
print_r(ob_list_handlers());
//save buffer in a file
$buffer = ob_get_flush();
file_put_contents('buffer.txt', $buffer);
print_r(ob_list_handlers());
?>The above example will output:
Array
(
[0] => default output handler
)
Array
(
)
Hi,
this is just to add a behavior that I haven't understud at first place.
ob_get_flush actually returns the content of the buffer as a text but also it sends the buffer back to the browser so that it's displayed on user screen.
Use ob_get_clean if you do not want the buffer to be send to the userI don't know how exactly this works, but if you call this function, PHP would behave as if headers have been sent (even though the output has gone to a string).
This means that you can't call this function, and then call setcookie for example.
This was verified by trial and errorI found this function is useful for storing output instead of displaying it. For example, I wanted to use an old function which echoed the ouput but I wanted it in a variable, not outputted immediately. Here's how:
<?php
// start generating html
$html = '<html><head>'; // etc
// start output buffering
ob_start();
// call function which outputs immediately
print_menu();
// append this to $html
$html .= ob_get_flush();
// empty output buffer
ob_clean();
?>Correction to previous post: ob_get_clean() is better, ie:
<?php
// start generating html
$html = '<html><head>'; // etc
// start output buffering
ob_start();
// call function which outputs immediately
print_menu();
// append this to $html and empty buffer
$html .= ob_get_clean();
?>