Today we will explain the process of displaying the output of the phpinfo() function within a Twig template. This approach is useful for debugging and checking PHP configuration settings within a web application.

The PHP Side: Capturing and Passing phpinfo() Output

Directly calling phpinfo() within a Twig template is not possible. Instead, the output of phpinfo() needs to be captured and passed to the template. This is achieved through the following steps in a PHP file:

1. Output Buffering: The ob_start() function initiates output buffering. This means that any output generated after this call will be stored in a buffer instead of being sent directly to the browser.
2. Calling phpinfo(): The phpinfo() function is called, which generates the standard PHP information page.
3. Retrieving the Buffered Output: ob_get_contents() retrieves the contents of the output buffer and stores it in the $phpinfo variable.
4. Cleaning the Buffer: ob_end_clean() clears the output buffer. This is important to prevent the phpinfo() output from interfering with the rest of the page rendering.
5. Rendering the Twig Template: The code then renders a Twig template (e.g., phpinfo.twig) and passes the $phpinfo variable to it. This variable now contains the HTML generated by phpinfo().

This would be the PHP code:

ob_start();
phpinfo();
$phpinfo = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();
return $this->render('phpinfo.twig', array(
    'phpinfo'=>$phpinfo,
));

The Twig Side: Displaying the Captured Output

In the Twig template (phpinfo.twig), the following code is used to display the PHP info:

{{ phpinfo | raw }}

The {{ phpinfo }} part outputs the value of the $phpinfo variable, which is the HTML content generated by phpinfo().

The | raw filter is crucial here. The phpinfo() function generates HTML, and without the raw filter, Twig would escape the HTML, displaying it as plain text. The raw filter tells Twig to treat the content as raw HTML and render it directly, allowing the PHP info page to be displayed correctly.

Hope this post has helped you all.