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Asked: 2026-05-23T23:34:58+00:00

Goal: Best system for refactoring complex & ugly code in exactly the same file.

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Goal: Best system for refactoring complex & ugly code in exactly the same file.

I’m currently in the process of refactoring someone else’s bad code. The code is intermixed, procedural php and I want to be able to create templates -in- the script. I don’t want to have to create an external file of a different type to run the template, I want to be able to take the horrible stuff happening in a script and make it into a template in the script, and then call that template right where the horrible stuff once was. And still be able to see what the template is outputting in the same file.

I just recently rediscovered php’s alternative syntax to simplify native templating ( http://php.net/manual/en/control-structures.alternative-syntax.php ).

Example System

Are there other techniques for really simplifying the templating process with native php templates? I generally prefer another template engine because it makes the php echoing slightly simpler than using php syntax, but especially when refactoring other people’s code, sometimes a templating engine is a lot of overhead and imposes a lot of rules, such as having your templates in some “templates” folder seperate from the script you’re refactoring, which makes it difficult for placement when refactoring.

Specifically, I’m trying to embark on a project to create a “templating” system that relies on native php, with templates that can be inline in source php scripts. The reason that I’m doing this is because I’ve found that, at least in the initial stage, having to switch from template to calling script, back and forth, makes it slightly harder to deal with, and since I am refactoring really complex and ugly code, I want to be able to see everything that’s happening as easily as possible. So I’d like to do something like

// Inclusion of the template library
require_once('lib_template.php');
// Initialization Logic
...lots of ugly non-display code and data-obtaining code here

// Decide what will be able to be output and put it into an array to pass to the template
$template_output_variables = array('name'=>'no name');

// Define the template function here, has html and such in native php here.
$contact_us = function page_contact_us($template_output_variables=null){
// Leave php in the template function.
?>
<body> Hello World
</body>

<?php
}

// call & display the template via delayed execution, display it within a pre-set head and footer.
display_page($template=$contact_us, $template_output_stuff=$template_output_variables, $options=array('title'=>'Contact Us'));

Looking for beneficial techniques for inline “template” sections and clean native php templates

So, I’m wondering what other useful techniques there are out there for making cleaner native-php-template code and I’d also really love to know if someone else out there did a inline-in-file templating system/library/script in php, so I can check it out and use that to inform writing my own.

Here’s a github gist of what I have so far:
https://gist.github.com/1201969

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Output buffering is a handy tool when lacking a template engine.

    ob_start(); //start the buffer

echo "some stuff";
include ('sometemplatefile.php');
//etc etc

$body=ob_get_contents(); //get the junk out of the buffer
ob_end_clean(); //clear the buffer

//do search and replace on contents... 
//etc

include ('header.php');
echo $body;
include ('footer.php');

    Maybe something like heredoc syntax is what you were asking for:
    http://us.php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php#language.types.string.syntax.heredoc

    Also, if you have short open tags enabled this can come in handy: 

    Some HTML: 
<?=$data?> 
This is a shortcut for 
<? echo $data;?>

    I think this may be deprecated in a future version though (I seem to remember reading somewhere)

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