Question

i have a file which generates html and adds it to a php String using buffer

<?php ob_start(); ?>

    <table>
     <tr>
      <td>Content</td>
     </tr>
    </table>

<?php     
    $contents = ob_get_contents();
    ob_flush();

    mail($to, $subject, $contents, $headers);
?>

Is there a way to save the contents of the string as a pdf file on the server using php?
I have tried using FPDF but it does not work since the content is at the top of the page and i get a output error from fpdf.

Any help appreciated

Answer 1

You need to use ob_end_clean() instead of ob_flush();

ob_flush(); will print the html and you don’t want that. As FPDF creates a pdf and needs to manipulate the headers (to be a pdf). If you echo/print something first php will automatically set default header. The library can’t modify them once they are set resulting in error.

after you have put the content of the ob in a var ($contents = ob_get_contents();) you can use ob_end_clean(). This will discard the content of the buffer and stop buffering.