Question

In PHP, I want to read a file into a variable and process the PHP in the file at the same time without using output buffering. Is this possible?

Essentially I want to be able to accomplish this without using ob_start():

<?php ob_start(); include 'myfile.php'; $xhtml = ob_get_clean(); ?> 

Is this possible in PHP?

Update: I want to do some more complex things within an output callback (where output buffering is not allowed).

Answer 1

A little known feature of PHP is being able to treat an included/required file like a function call, with a return value.

For example:

// myinclude.php $value = 'foo'; $otherValue = 'bar'; return $value . $otherValue;   // index.php $output = include './myinclude.php'; echo $output; // Will echo foobar