Question

Could someone refer me to an online PHP validator?
It would be of much help.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

To expand on my comment.

You can validate on the command line using php -l [filename], which does a syntax check only (lint). This will depend on your php.ini error settings, so you can edit you php.ini or set the error_reporting in the script.

Here’s an example of the output when run on a file containing:

<?php
echo no quotes or semicolon

Results in:

PHP Parse error:  syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting ',' or ';' in badfile.php on line 2

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_STRING, expecting ',' or ';' in badfile.php on line 2

Errors parsing badfile.php

I suggested you build your own validator.

A simple page that allows you to upload a php file. It takes the uploaded file runs it through php -l and echos the output.

Note: this is not a security risk it does not execute the file, just checks for syntax errors.

Here’s a really basic example of creating your own:

<?php
if (isset($_FILES['file'])) {
    echo '<pre>';
    passthru('php -l '.$_FILES['file']['tmp_name']);
    echo '</pre>';
}
?>
<form action="" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <input type="file" name="file"/>
    <input type="submit"/>
</form>