What PHP Functions Create Output?

Question

Has anyone ever compiled a list of all the PHP functions/methods that send output to the browser (or STDOUT when running in CLI mode)? A quick search didn't show any manual pages with this information (but I could be wrong there)

I'm interested in functions that are designed to do this, not functions that may raise warnings that would be sent directly to the browser.

The print and echo functions are the obvious ones, I'm looking for a list of lesser known output functions, like readfile.

The main reason I'm asking the question is I'd like a list of functions to check for when tracking down "early output" style errors. (headers can't be set, etc.)

php.net/manual/en/wrappers.php.php

Incognito
– Incognito

2011-01-12 20:39:45 +00:00
Commented Jan 12, 2011 at 20:39 — Incognito
– Incognito, Commented Jan 12, 2011 at 20:39

dev-null-dweller · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-12 21:00:10Z

3

Expanding list:

printf
vprintf
var_export
passthru
gzpassthru
fpassthru
debug_print_backtrace

[+] they are rather obvoius but also worth mentioning:

flush
ob_flush
ob_end_flush

And header related functions also produces output, I remember having to run php-cgi, when CLI binary was not available, and there it was especially annoying

header
setcookie
session_start /* with sessions that uses cookie */

edited Jan 12, 2011 at 21:00

answered Jan 12, 2011 at 20:44

dev-null-dweller

29.5k3 gold badges68 silver badges87 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Floern · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-12 20:52:38Z

2

There is curl_exec() with setting CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER to false.

And are die() and exit() good enough for your list?

Edit: imagepng(), imagejpeg(), imagegif()?

And actually phpinfo().

answered Jan 12, 2011 at 20:52

Floern

34k24 gold badges106 silver badges122 bronze badges

1 Comment

J.D. Over a year ago

And actually phpinfo() - and phpcredits().

Nanne · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-12 20:39:39Z

1

Have never seen a list, but can add var_dump and print_r for starters? :)

answered Jan 12, 2011 at 20:39

Nanne

64.4k16 gold badges122 silver badges166 bronze badges

Comments

mario · Accepted Answer · 2011-01-12 20:54:26Z

1

There's one which is often overlooked / eschewed:

trigger_error()

answered Jan 12, 2011 at 20:54

mario

146k20 gold badges243 silver badges293 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

What PHP Functions Create Output?

4 Answers 4

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

4 Answers 4

Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related