PHP 7.0.6 Released

    ob_get_clean

    (PHP 4 >= 4.3.0, PHP 5, PHP 7)

    ob_get_clean — Get current buffer contents and delete current output buffer

    Description

    string ob_get_clean ( void )

    Gets the current buffer contents and delete current output buffer.

    ob_get_clean() essentially executes both ob_get_contents() and ob_end_clean().

    The output buffer must be started by ob_start() with PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_CLEANABLE flag. Otherwise ob_get_clean() will not work.

    Return Values

    Returns the contents of the output buffer and end output buffering. If output buffering isn't active then FALSE is returned.

    Examples

    Example #1 A simple ob_get_clean() example

    <?php

    ob_start    ();

    echo     "Hello World";

    $out = ob_get_clean();
    $out = strtolower($out);

    var_dump($out);
    ?>

    The above example will output:

    string(11) "hello world"

    See Also

    User Contributed Notes

    paul+phpnet at earth2me dot com
    2 years ago
    Keep in mind that output may be buffered by default, depending on how you are running PHP (CGI, CLI, etc.).   You can use ob_get_level() to determine if an output buffer has already been started.  On most web servers I've used, output buffering is already one level deep before my scripts start running.

    You should only end as many output buffers as you start.  Assuming that your buffer is always the first buffer, or otherwise closing pre-existing buffers, could lead to problems.  In PHP 5.5, you can ensure that output buffers are ended properly using a try-finally block.

    Something like this is almost guaranteed to break stuff:

    <?php
    // Don't ever do this!
    while (ob_get_level() > 1)
    {
            ob_end_flush();
    }

    $content = ob_get_clean();
    ?>

    The problem is that number, "1".  Using a fixed number there is asking for trouble.  Instead, use ob_get_level() to get the number of output buffers applied when your code starts, and return to that number, if you really must use an unknown number of output buffers:

    <?php
    ob_start    ();
    $saved_ob_level = ob_get_level();

    // Do stuff here:
    run_something();

    // If you really must close all of your output buffers except one, this'll do it:
    while (ob_get_level() > $start_ob_level)
    {
            ob_end_flush();
    }

    // And now, the final output buffer that belongs to us:
    $content = ob_get_clean();
    ?>
    steven at bielik dot com
    5 years ago
    Also, don't forget that you will need to ob_start() again for any successive calls:

    <?php
    ob_start    ();
    echo     "1";
    $content = ob_get_clean();

    ob_start(); // This is NECESSARY for the next ob_get_clean() to work as intended.
    echo "2";
    $content .= ob_get_clean();

    echo     $content;
    ?>

    Output: 12

    Without the second ob_start(), the output is 21 ...
    geo dot artemenko at gmail dot com
    2 years ago
    The definition should mention that the function also "turns off output buffering", not just cleans it.
    sergei dot solomonov at gmail dot com
    3 years ago
    <?php
    ob_start    ();
    echo     "1";
    $content = ob_get_clean();

    echo     "2";
    $content .= ob_get_clean();

    echo     $content;
    ?>

    This script outputs 21 in CLI mode and 12 otherwise (under my apache and nginx)
    webmaster at ragnarokonline dot de
    12 years ago
    Running PHP4 < 4.3.0, you can simply add the following to use the function anyway:

    <?php
    if (!function_exists("ob_get_clean")) {
        function     ob_get_clean() {
                $ob_contents = ob_get_contents();
                ob_end_clean();
            return     $ob_contents;
        }
    }
    ?>
    ludvig dot ericson at gmail dot com
    10 years ago
    Notice that the function beneath does not catch errors, so throw in an @ before those ob_* calls
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