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6.2 PHP Include Files

The include (or require) statement takes all the text/code/markup that exists in the specified file and copies it into the file that uses the include statement.
Including files is very useful when you want to include the same PHP, HTML, or text on multiple pages of a website.

PHP include and require Statements

It is possible to insert the content of one PHP file into another PHP file (before the server executes it), with the include or require statement.
The include and require statements are identical, except upon failure:
- require will produce a fatal error (E_COMPILE_ERROR) and stop the script
- include will only produce a warning (E_WARNING) and the script will continue
So, if you want the execution to go on and show users the output, even if the include file is missing, use the include statement. Otherwise, in case of FrameWork, CMS, or a complex PHP application coding, always use the require statement to include a key file to the flow of execution. This will help avoid compromising your application's security and integrity, just in-case one key file is accidentally missing.
Including files saves a lot of work. This means that you can create a standard header, footer, or menu file for all your web pages. Then, when the header needs to be updated, you can only update the header include file.

Syntax

include 'filename';

or

require 'filename';

PHP include Examples

Example 1

<?php
echo "<p>Copyright © 1999-" . date("Y") . " W3Schools.com</p>";
?>

To include the footer file in a page, use the include statement:

Example 1: PHP Include Files - PHP include Example psrt 1

<html>
<body>

<h1>Welcome to my home page!</h1>
<p>Some text.</p>
<p>Some more text.</p>
<?php include 'footer.php';?>

</body>
</html>

Example 2

Assume we have a standard menu file called "menu.php":

All pages in the Web site should use this menu file. Here is how it can be done (we are using a <div> element so that the menu easily can be styled with CSS later):

Example 2: PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 2

<html>
<body>

<div class="menu">
<?php include 'menu.php';?>
</div>

<h1>Welcome to my home page!</h1>
<p>Some text.</p>
<p>Some more text.</p>

</body>
</html>

Example 3

Assume we have a file called "vars.php", with some variables defined:

<?php
$color='gold';
$car='Toyota Rav4';
?>

Then, if we include the "vars.php" file, the variables can be used in the calling file:

Example 3: PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 3

<html>
<body>

<h1>Welcome to my home page!</h1>
<?php include 'vars.php';
echo "I have a $color $car.";
?>

</body>
</html>

PHP include vs. require

The require statement is also used to include a file into the PHP code.
However, there is one big difference between include and require; when a file is included with the include statement and PHP cannot find it, the script will continue to execute:

Example 4: PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 4

<html>
<body>

<h1>Welcome to my home page!</h1>
<?php include 'noFileExists.php';
echo "I have a $color $car.";
?>

</body>
</html>

If we do the same example using the require statement, the echo statement will not be executed because the script execution dies after the require statement returned a fatal error:

Example 5: PHP Include Files - PHP require Example

<html>
<body>

<h1>Welcome to my home page!</h1>
<?php require 'noFileExists.php';
echo "I have a $color $car.";
?>

</body>
</html>

Use require when the file is required by the application.
Use include when the file is not required and application should continue when file is not found.

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Example files created in this module:
The PHP Date() Function - Get a Date The PHP Date() Function - Automatic Copyright Year The PHP Date() Function - Get a Time The PHP Date() Function - Get Your Time Zone The PHP Date() Function - Create a Date With mktime() The PHP Date() Function - Create a Date From a String With strtotime() part 1 The PHP Date() Function - Create a Date From a String With strtotime()part 2 The PHP Date() Function - Create Dates From Strings With strtotime() The PHP Date() Function - Count The Number of Days To July 4 With strtotime() PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 1 PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 2 PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 3 PHP Include Files - PHP include Example part 4 PHP Include Files - PHP require Example readfile() fopen() fgets() feof() fgetc() PHP File Handling - PHP readfile() Function PHP File Open/Read - PHP Open File - fopen() PHP File Open/Read - fgets() Read Single Line PHP File Open/Read - feof() Check End-Of-File PHP File Open/Read - fgetc() Read Single Character PHP File Upload PHP Cookies - Create/Retrieve a Cookie PHP Cookies - Modify a Cookie Value PHP Cookies - Delete a Cookie PHP Cookies - Check if Cookies are Enabled PHP Sessions - Start a PHP Session PHP Sessions - Get PHP Session Variable Values part 1 PHP Sessions - Get PHP Session Variable Values part 2 PHP Sessions - Modify a PHP Session Variable PHP Sessions - Destroy a PHP Session PHP Filters - The PHP Filter Extension PHP Filters - Sanitize a String PHP Filters - Validate an Integer PHP Filters - filter_var() and Problem With 0 PHP Filters - Validate an IP Address PHP Filters - Sanitize and Validate an Email Address PHP Filters - Sanitize and Validate a URL PHP Filters Advanced - Validate an Integer Within a Range PHP Filters Advanced - Validate IPv6 Address PHP Filters Advanced - Validate URL That Must Contain QueryString PHP Filters Advanced - Remove Characters With ASCII Value > 127 PHP Callback Functions PHP Callback Functions - Anonymous Function PHP Callback Functions - Callbacks in User Defined Functions PHP and JSON - json_encode() part 1 PHP and JSON - json_encode() part 2 PHP and JSON - json_decode() part 1 PHP and JSON - json_decode() part 2 PHP and JSON - Accessing the Decoded Values part 1 PHP and JSON - Accessing the Decoded Values part 2 PHP and JSON - Looping Through the Values part 1 PHP and JSON - Looping Through the Values part 2 PHP Exceptions - Throwing an Exception PHP Exceptions - The try...catch Statement PHP Exceptions - The try...catch...finally Statement part 1 PHP Exceptions - The try...catch...finally Statement part 2 PHP Exceptions - The Exception Object