mix html template with php code : php html template - php

Question

I create a dynamic website using php/mysql. my template for print data using pure php code + html . now , better, optimized, faster way for Structure of mix php + html ? ( without template engine )
for each page i have : ex.1 ( php code before wrapper )
<?PHP include ( DEFINE_SITE . '/templates/header.php' );
// isset : post : get : SELECT : INSERT ... Or ANY CODE OF PHP
?>
<div id="wrapper">
<div id="leftsidebar"><?PHP // Left DATA ?></div>
<div id="centercontent">
<?PHP // while {} Print result of php ANY LOOPS ..... ?>
</div>
<div id="rightsidebar"><?PHP // Right DATA ?></div>
</div>
<?PHP include ( DEFINE_SITE . '/templates/footer.php' ); ?>
for each page i have : ex.2 ( after side bar and before center content )
<?PHP include ( DEFINE_SITE . '/templates/header.php' );
<div id="wrapper">
<div id="leftsidebar"><?PHP // Left DATA ?></div>
<?PHP // isset : post : get : SELECT : INSERT ... Or ANY CODE OF PHP ?>
<div id="centercontent">
<?PHP // while {} Print result of php ANY LOOPS ..... ?>
</div>
<div id="rightsidebar"><?PHP // Right DATA ?></div>
</div>
<?PHP include ( DEFINE_SITE . '/templates/footer.php' );?>
Which is better? e.x 1 or e.x 2 ? your opinion ?

Answer 1

why the aversion to a template engine? In reality, PHP is a template engine, but perhaps if you checked a few out (like Twig) it might help you in designing something more flexible, fast and responsive without the template engine.... or you might start to love it, like me ;-)

Answer 2

I suggest that you keep your HTML and PHP separated. If you don't want to use a template system why don't you do it like this?
Make a HTML template:
<div id="wrapper">
<div id="leftsidebar">{LEFT}</div>
<div id="centercontent">{CONTENT}</div>
<div id="rightsidebar">{RIGHT}</div>
</div>
In a different php file:
$content = file_get_contents('template.html');
$templateVars = array();
startVar('CONTENT');
echo '<p>This is the content.</p>'; // New template vars are also allowed
endVar('CONTENT');
echo replaceTemplateVars($content);
/**
* Replace template variables recursively with the key-value pairs that are in the $templateVars queue
* #param string $content (default NULL) is code to convert.
* #return the string that is replaced
*/
function replaceTemplateVars($content = NULL)
{
global $templateVars;
$matches = array();
preg_match_all("/{[A-Z0-9_:]*}/", $content, $matches); // $matches = All vars found in your template
foreach($matches[0] as $key)
{
if(isset($templateVars[substr($key, 1, -1)]))
{
$content = str_replace($key, $templateVars[substr($key, 1, -1)], $content); // Substitute template var with contents
}
else
{
$content = str_replace($key, "", $content); // Remove empty template var from template
}
}
// Check if the replacement has entered any new template variables, if so go recursive and replace these too
if(preg_match_all("/{[A-Z0-9_:]*}/", $content, $matches))
{
$content = replaceTemplateVars($content);
}
return $content;
}
/**
* Start output buffer for a template key
* #param string $key is not used. Only for overview purposes
*/
function startVar($key)
{
ob_start();
}
/**
* End output buffer for a template key and store the contents of the output buffer in the template key
* #param string $key
*/
function endVar($key)
{
setVar($key, ob_get_contents());
ob_end_clean();
}
/**
* #param string $key to store value in
* #param mixed $value to be stored
*/
function setVar($key, $value)
{
global $templateVars;
$templateVars[$key] = $value;
}
And this is what you get on your screen:
<div id="wrapper">
<div id="leftsidebar"></div>
<div id="centercontent"><p>This is the content.</p></div>
<div id="rightsidebar"></div>
</div>
So preprocessing is done first and at the end all html code is outputted.
Of course you could add functions like startPrependVar() and startAppendVar() and wrap everything into a Template class to get rid of the global scope.