I am building my website completely in PHP. I am trying to make it as much flexible as possible.
I have seen there are some softwares made in PHP that are able to get a HTML page, and before showing it, the PHP code recognizes the code inside brackets {PHP Code} as PHP code, runs it and only then shows the final page.
<h1>Hi My Name is {echo $name}</h1>
How can I achieve the same? I know there is Smarty Code. But I do not want to learn Smarty, I just want to know how to check a HTML page with PHP, find every bracket and threat that as PHP before showing the page..?
Can you point me somewhere?
Are you looking for PHP's basic syntax?
If you enable short_open_tags (it usually is enabled by default), this will work:
<h1>Hi My Name is <?=$name?></h1>
otherwise, this will always work:
<h1>Hi My Name is <?php echo $name; ?></h1>
PHP is already a templating language - there often is no need to add another layer of templating on top of it.
I want to keep the template files separated from the php engine
In fact, you don't
Your template files would behave as native PHP files in every way.
So, there is asolutely no [logical] reason to prefer such a strange solution over native PHP.
use the php tags for the echo statement.
<h1>Hi my name is <?php echo $name; ?></h1>
Well, just point apache to index.php which includes phtml templates into itself. Use <?php ?> instead of { }.
Related
Sorry for the vague title but it's hard to describe what I mean in a few words.
I made my own cms and use it for all my personal projects. On some pages I want to include a php script in the content area. I load the content simply by echoing the variable that holds the content.
The template file looks like this:
<div id="content">
echo $content;
</div>
In my CRUD I make a post containing a php snippet.
<?php echo "My name is ".$var.""; ?>;
Then I save it and load the page and this is what happens:
<div id="content">
echo <?php echo "My name is ".$var.""; ?>;
</div>
But what I want is that the php code get's executed instead of getting echoed.
Something like the Wordpress plugin Exec-PHP. Can anybody explain to me how to achieve this?
Thanks in advance!
You could use the PHP eval() function to execute PHP code. Be aware though, if you ever allow users to insert text that may at some point be run through eval(), you could end up with some serious problems.
The php website says:
The eval() language construct is very dangerous because it allows
execution of arbitrary PHP code. Its use thus is discouraged. If you
have carefully verified that there is no other option than to use this
construct, pay special attention not to pass any user provided data
into it without properly validating it beforehand.
You can try php eval() func. But it is considered evil.
Rather than use PHP instructions, why don't you output to HTML, and use Javascript to execute what is displayed? There is no danger to your server that way. Others have already warned about the dangers of eval() in PHP.
I am trying to work with FatFree framework and trying to use the template engine. I render the template with the following code -
echo Template::serve('template.php');
The problem which I'm facing is that, inside the template.php file the F3 tags are recognised but any PHP code doesn't work. For instance, if I have the following code in the template.php file -
<?php
if (F3::get('var') == 'var1') {
?>
<span>var1 is present</span>
<?php
} else {
?>
<span>var1 not present</span>
<?php
}
?>
Here both var1 is present and var1 not present is printed irrespective of the value of var. Also, php for loops are not working - so basically all the php code is not working.
However, if I used <F3:check> to write the above PHP code, then everything works fine. Can we not use PHP code in templates. If this is the case, this is a serious limitation.
I have found the answer, although I don't really like it.
There is two different functions, F3::render() and Template::serve()
With F3::render() you can evaluate PHP expressions and use the F3::get() to retrieve variables. According to the website: "The only issue with embedding PHP code in your templates is the conscious effort needed to stick to MVC principles"
The Template::serve() is for templating only. Meaning its simply to process the templating language.
So basically, and yes it sucks and doesn't make sense, you can evaluate PHP code in the F3::render() and you can't use templating variables ({{#var}}) -OR- you can use Template::serve() and you are limited to only calling PHP functions, and not truly evaluating PHP code.
Maybe try to use different template engine which will allow you define easier the blocks variable dependency?
For example in PHPTal http://phptal.org/manual/en/split/tal-condition.html you can do it like that:
<div tal:condition="php: var == 'var1'">
....
</div>
It is undocumented but you can put code within {~ ~} in a template and it will be converted to <?php ?> when the template is compiled (using v3.6).
e.g. {~ #color = 'red' ~} will become <?php $color = 'red' ?>
I usually create modular websites, each part of the website being a .php file which will be included in the main pages.
Is it "better" to output HTML within PHP files using echo or to close each time the php tag ?> and open it each time I need to access a PHP function/variable.
V1:
<?php
$v1=$_POST['name'];
echo "Your name is".$v1;
echo $v1." if you want, you can log out";
?>
V2:
<?php $v1=$_POST['name']; ?>
Your name is <?php echo $v1; ?>
<?php echo $v1;?> if you want, you can log out
The thing is that between the php tags there's much more HTML code (echoed) than actual PHP.
Does it affect the script performance if I close the tags each time? And is it safe to acces variables declared in a previous block of php code?
EDIT1:
When closing the php tags isn't the server clearing some cache for that script, or something like that?
I think you can select whatever you want, but you should use it everywhere. For myself, second one is better
Definitely v2. Plus , you additionally should read this one : http://codeangel.org/articles/simple-php-template-engine.html (archive link: http://archive.is/CiHhD).
Using V2 would be better as it wouldn't break the syntax highlighting or code completion in many IDEs, but both of them are as good as the other.
As far as I know, there is no (considerable) difference in performance.
You could also consider using a template engine, however, that does impact performance. The most popular template engine is Smarty, but there are others (some better, some worse) out there.
I am trying to find a way to write pure PHP in my articles with Joomla (currently using 1.5). The closest I got so far was to use a plugin called Sourcerer (see link)
The issue is that the PHP code is actually being rendered as HTML. When I write the below code via the Sourcerer editor:
<?php echo "Hello world"; ?>
This is what is being written to the article:
<span><</span>?php echo "Hello world"; ?<span>></span>
I am afraid that at some point this is going to break my PHP if I come up with more complex code. Also this makes the code hardly readable. Finally the issue with Sourcerer is that you can only insert new code, you can't edit what you previously added.
Does anybody know a way to write pure PHP into articles?
I would like to insist on the fact that it has to be within articles. I already found a way to do it in modules or components, for instance with Jumi.
I have used Sourcerer a couple of times and it does allow one to insert PHP snippets into articles without issues. If your php is being rendered as html, it sounds like the php isn't getting parsed as php - first thing is to make sure that the sourcerer plugin is indeed enabled so it can allow your php scripts to get parsed. (check plugin enabled status here: extensions->plugin manager->sourcerer).
Also, use the sourcerer ("Insert Code") button at the bottom of your WYSIWYG editor when adding your PHP scripts - it keeps the formatting/syntax highlighting and ensures that it is escaped properly with the {source} {/source} tags.
An update, I have the same issue with joomla 3.x, sourcerer, I have tried tinymice, JCKEdidor and JCEEditor. I have now given up with this method.
To insert php code into an article I have used a php include file and all the html is echoed inside this php include file. The php file is then referenced from within the Article Editor.
Those more proficient than me with joomla will no doubt do this correctly using a module or the like.
You can try another plugin called Direct PHP. It's nice and simple to use. Just download and install it and make sure it is enable. After this start writing your php code in joomla article.
Example:
<?php
echo "Hello World!";
?>
it supports all most every PHP functions and you can filter the functions what you don't need it from its settings.
Here is the link for the download.
Download & import plugin sourcerer https://extensions.joomla.org/extension/sourcerer/
{source} [[?php echo "Hello world"; ?]] {/source}
use this. It fine for me.
I have been designing websites for a while now, but there is one thing that I have never been quite sure of when using PHP and HTML. Is it better to have the whole document in PHP and echo HTML like so:
<?php
doSomething();
echo "<div id=\"some_div\">Content</div>";
?>
Or have a HTML file like so and just add in the PHP:
<html>
<body>
<?php doSomething(); ?>
<div id="some_div">Content</div>
</body>
</html>
It seems tidier to echo HTML, especially if lots of PHP gets used throughout the page, but doing so loses all formatting of the HTML i.e. colors in the IDE etc.
There are varying opinions on this. I think there are two good ways:
Use a templating engine like Smarty that completely separates code and presentation.
Use your second example, but when mixing PHP into HTML, only output variables. Do all the code logic in one block before outputting anything, or a separate file. Like so:
<?php $content = doSomething();
// complex calculations
?>
<html>
<body>
<?php echo $content; ?>
<div id="some_div">Content</div>
</body>
</html>
Most full-fledged application frameworks bring their own styles of doing this; in that case, it's usually best to follow the style provided.
I think this would depend on your group's or your own decided convention. And it can and should vary depending on what type of file you're working in. If you follow the MVC pattern then your views should be the latter. If you're writing a class or some non-output script/code then you should use the former.
Try to keep a separation of display or formatting of output and the logic that provides the data. For instance let's say you need to make a quick page that runs a simple query and outputs some data. In this case (where there is no other existing infrastructure or framework) you could place the logic in an include or in the top or the bottom of the file. Example:
<?php
# define some functions here that provide data in a raw format
?>
<html>
<body>
<?php foreach($foo = data_function($some_parameter) as $key => $value): ?>
<p>
<?=$value;?>
</p>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</body>
</html>
Or you could place the logic and function definitions in an include file or at the bottom of the file.
Now if you're producing some sort of class that has output (it really shouldn't) then you would echo the HTML or return it from the method being called. Preferably return it so that it can be output whenever and however the implementer would like.
The syntax highlighting is an important benefit of the second method, as you said. But also, if you're following good practices where logic and presentation are separated, you will naturally find that your files that contain HTML are almost entirely HTML, which then, naturally, leads to your second method again. This is the standard for MVC frameworks and the like. You'll have a bunch of files that are all PHP, doing logic, and then when that's done they'll include a presentation file which is mostly HTML with a sprinkling of PHP.
Simple:
More PHP - close HTML in PHP. When you generate HTML code in PHP, when you are doing something like a class, so it is better to make it in echo.
Less PHP - close PHP in HTML. This is stuff like just putting vars into fields of HTML stuff, like forms... And such.
The best approach is to separate the HTML from the PHP using template system or at least some kind of HTML skeleton like:
<main>
<header/>
<top-nav/>
<left-col>
<body />
</left-col>
<right-col />
<footer/>
</main>
Each node represents a template file e.g. main.php, hrader.php and so on. Than you have to separate the PHP code from the templates as something like functions.php and fineally use your second approach for template files and keeping functions clean of "echos" and HTML.
If you can, use a template engine instead.
Although it is slightly easier at first to mix your HTML and PHP, separating them makes things much easier to maintain later on.
I would recommend checking out TemplateLite which is based on Smarty but is a little more light weight.
I've reached a conclusion that using views in MVC framework e.g. Laravel, Yii, CodeIgniter is the best approach even if you are not displaying the html straight away.
Inside the view do all the echoing and looping of prepared variables, don't create or call functions there, unless formatting existing data e.g. date to specific format date('Y-m-d', strtodate(123456789)). It should be used only for creating HTML, not processing it. That's what frameworks have controllers for.
If using plain PHP, create you own view function to pass 3 variables to - html file, array of variables, and if you want to get output as string or print it straight away for the browser. I don't find a need for it as using frameworks is pretty much a standard. (I might improve the answer in the future by creating the function to get view generated HTML) Please see added edit below as a sample.
Frameworks allow you to get the HTML of the view instead of displaying it. So if you need to generate separate tables or other elements, pass the variables to a view, and return HTML.
Different fremeworks may use various type of templating languages e.g. blade. They help formatting the data, and essentially make templates easier to work with. It's also not necessary to use them for displaying data, or if forced to use it by the framework, just do required processing before posting the variables, and just "print" it using something like {{ yourVariable }} or {{ yourVariable.someProperty }}
Edit: here's a plain PHP (not framework PHP) - simple-php-view repository as a sample view library that allows to generate HTML using variables. Could be suitable for school/university projects or such where frameworks may not be allowed.
The repository allows to generate HTML at any time by calling a function and passing required variables to it, similar to frameworks. Separately generated HTML can then be combined by another view.
It depends on the context. If you are outputting a lot of HTML with attributes, you're going to get sick of escaping the quotation marks in PHP strings. However, there is no need to use ?><p><? instead of echo "<p>"; either. It's really just a matter of personal taste.
The second method is what I usually use. And it was the default method for me too. It is just to handy to get php to work inside html rather than echo out the html code. But I had to modify the httpd.conf file as my server just commented out the php code.