ob_list_handlers
output_add_rewrite_var
Output Control Functions
PHP Manual

# ob_start

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

ob_start — Turn on output buffering

### Description

bool ob_start ([ callable `$output_callback` = `NULL` [, int `$chunk_size` = 0 [, int `$flags` = `PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_STDFLAGS` ]]] )

This function will turn output buffering on. While output buffering is active no output is sent from the script (other than headers), instead the output is stored in an internal buffer.

The contents of this internal buffer may be copied into a string variable using ob_get_contents(). To output what is stored in the internal buffer, use ob_end_flush(). Alternatively, ob_end_clean() will silently discard the buffer contents.

Warning

Some web servers (e.g. Apache) change the working directory of a script when calling the callback function. You can change it back by e.g. chdir(dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'])) in the callback function.

Output buffers are stackable, that is, you may call ob_start() while another ob_start() is active. Just make sure that you call ob_end_flush() the appropriate number of times. If multiple output callback functions are active, output is being filtered sequentially through each of them in nesting order.

### Parameters

`output_callback`

  An optional `output_callback` function may be specified. This function takes a string as a parameter and should return a string. The function will be called when the output buffer is flushed (sent) or cleaned (with ob_flush(), ob_clean() or similar function) or when the output buffer is flushed to the browser at the end of the request. When `output_callback` is called, it will receive the contents of the output buffer as its parameter and is expected to return a new output buffer as a result, which will be sent to the browser. If the `output_callback` is not a callable function, this function will return `FALSE`. This is the callback signature:

  bool handler ( string `$buffer` [, int `$phase` ] )
  `buffer`
    Contents of the output buffer.
  `phase`
    Bitmask of `PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_*` constants.

  If `output_callback` returns `FALSE` original input is sent to the browser.

  The `output_callback` parameter may be bypassed by passing a `NULL` value.

  ob_end_clean(), ob_end_flush(), ob_clean(), ob_flush() and ob_start() may not be called from a callback function. If you call them from callback function, the behavior is undefined. If you would like to delete the contents of a buffer, return "" (a null string) from callback function. You can't even call functions using the output buffering functions like print_r($expression, true) or highlight_file($filename, true) from a callback function.

  > Note:

  > In PHP 4.0.4, ob_gzhandler() was introduced to facilitate sending gz-encoded data to web browsers that support compressed web pages. ob_gzhandler() determines what type of content encoding the browser will accept and will return its output accordingly.

`chunk_size`

  If the optional parameter `chunk_size` is passed, the buffer will be flushed after any output call which causes the buffer's length to equal or exceed `chunk_size`. The default value 0 means that the output function will only be called when the output buffer is closed.

  Prior to PHP 5.4.0, the value 1 was a special case value that set the chunk size to 4096 bytes.

`flags`

  The `flags` parameter is a bitmask that controls the operations that can be performed on the output buffer. The default is to allow output buffers to be cleaned, flushed and removed, which can be set explicitly via `PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_CLEANABLE` | `PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_FLUSHABLE` | `PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_REMOVABLE`, or `PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_STDFLAGS` as shorthand.

  Each flag controls access to a set of functions, as described below:

  Constant | Functions
  --- | ---
  `PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_CLEANABLE` | ob_clean(), ob_end_clean(), and ob_get_clean().
  `PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_FLUSHABLE` | ob_end_flush(), ob_flush(), and ob_get_flush().
  `PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_REMOVABLE` | ob_end_clean(), ob_end_flush(), and ob_get_flush().

### Return Values

Returns `TRUE` on success or `FALSE` on failure.

### Changelog

Version | Description
--- | ---

5.4.0

The third parameter of ob_start() changed from a boolean parameter called `erase` (which, if set to `FALSE`, would prevent the output buffer from being deleted until the script finished executing) to an integer parameter called `flags`. Unfortunately, this results in an API compatibility break for code written prior to PHP 5.4.0 that uses the third parameter. See the flags example for an example of how to handle this with code that needs to be compatible with both.

5.4.0 | A chunk size of 1 now results in chunks of 1 byte being sent to the output buffer.
4.3.2 | This function was changed to return `FALSE` in case the passed `output_callback` can not be executed.
4.2.0 | Added the `erase` parameter.

### Examples

Example #1 User defined callback function example

`<?php
function callback($buffer)
{
// replace all the apples with oranges
return (str_replace("apples", "oranges", $buffer));
}
ob_start("callback");
?>
<html>
<body>
<p>It's like comparing apples to oranges.</p>
</body>
</html>
<?php
ob_end_flush();
?>`

The above example will output:

    <html>
    <body>
    <p>It's like comparing oranges to oranges.</p>
    </body>
    </html>

Example #2 Creating an uneraseable output buffer in a way compatible with both PHP 5.3 and 5.4

`<?php
if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.4.0', '>=')) {
ob_start(null, 0, PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_STDFLAGS ^
PHP_OUTPUT_HANDLER_REMOVABLE);
} else {
ob_start(null, 0, false);
}
?>`

### See Also

- ob_get_contents() - Return the contents of the output buffer
- ob_end_clean() - Clean (erase) the output buffer and turn off output buffering
- ob_end_flush() - Flush (send) the output buffer and turn off output buffering
- ob_implicit_flush() - Turn implicit flush on/off
- ob_gzhandler() - ob_start callback function to gzip output buffer
- ob_iconv_handler() - Convert character encoding as output buffer handler
- mb_output_handler() - Callback function converts character encoding in output buffer
- ob_tidyhandler() - ob_start callback function to repair the buffer

ob_list_handlers
output_add_rewrite_var
Output Control Functions
PHP Manual