(PHP 4 >= 4.3.0, PHP 5, PHP 7)
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 returns the buffer as a string.
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 user
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();
?>
I 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 error
I 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();
?>
