(PHP 4 >= 4.3.0, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
ob_get_flush — Flush (send) the return value of the active output handler, return the contents of the active output buffer and turn it off
This function calls the output handler
(with the PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_FINAL flag),
flushes (sends) it's return value,
returns the contents of the active output buffer
and turns off the active output buffer.
ob_get_flush() will fail
without an active output buffer started with the
PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_REMOVABLE flag.
ob_get_flush() will flush (send)
the return value of the output handler
even if the active output buffer was started without the
PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_FLUSHABLE flag.
This function has no parameters.
Returns the contents of the active output buffer on success
or false on failure.
If the function fails it generates an E_NOTICE.
Example #1 ob_get_flush() example
<?php
//using output_buffering=On
print_r(ob_list_handlers());
//save buffer in a file
$buffer = ob_get_flush();
file_put_contents('buffer.txt', $buffer);
print_r(ob_list_handlers());
?>The above example will output:
Array
(
[0] => default output handler
)
Array
(
)
Hi,
this is just to add a behavior that I haven't understud at first place.
ob_get_flush actually returns the content of the buffer as a text but also it sends the buffer back to the browser so that it's displayed on user screen.
Use ob_get_clean if you do not want the buffer to be send to the userI don't know how exactly this works, but if you call this function, PHP would behave as if headers have been sent (even though the output has gone to a string).
This means that you can't call this function, and then call setcookie for example.
This was verified by trial and errorCorrection to previous post: ob_get_clean() is better, ie:
<?php
// start generating html
$html = '<html><head>'; // etc
// start output buffering
ob_start();
// call function which outputs immediately
print_menu();
// append this to $html and empty buffer
$html .= ob_get_clean();
?>