(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
ob_get_contents — Return the contents of the output buffer
Gets the contents of the output buffer without clearing it.
This function has no parameters.
This will return the contents of the output buffer or false, if output
buffering isn't active.
Example #1 A simple ob_get_contents() example
<?php
ob_start();
echo "Hello ";
$out1 = ob_get_contents();
echo "World";
$out2 = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();
var_dump($out1, $out2);
?>The above example will output:
string(6) "Hello " string(11) "Hello World"
This is an example of how the stack works:
<?php
//Level 0
ob_start();
echo "Hello ";
//Level 1
ob_start();
echo "Hello World";
$out2 = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();
//Back to level 0
echo "Galaxy";
$out1 = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();
//Just output
var_dump($out1, $out2);
?>Note that, unlike PHP variables which make efficient use of memory, getting the contents of the output buffer results in a new copy of the buffer being made. This can end up massively increasing the memory requirements of your script if your output is large.
Example code:
<?php
print(memory_get_usage() . "<br>");
ob_start();
for ($i = 0; $i < 5000000; $i++)
print(" ");
print(memory_get_usage() . "<br>");
$foo = ob_get_contents();
print(memory_get_usage() . "<br>");
ob_end_flush();
?>
Output:
351664
5359152
10359256