PHP using an HTML template

Question

I am having trouble reading in a file and using it as a template in PHP. A portion of my code is pasted below. For some reason it never finds $$USER_NAME$$ in the string so it never replaces. I also pasted the beginning part of my template below.

$filename = "email/templates/welcome.txt";
$file = fopen($filename, "r")   
$body = fread($file, filesize($filename));
fclose($file);
$body = str_replace("$$USER_NAME$$", "John Doe", $body);
print($body);

Template:

<p>
   <img src="emailPic" alt="Logo" />
</p>
<p>Dear $$USER_NAME$$,</p>
<p>Thank you for registering to attend $$EVENT_NAME$$. We look forward to helping you reach your networking goals at $$EVENT_SHORT_NAME$$.
</p>...

Any ideas about why it wouldn't find $$USER_NAME$$ in the template?

Try this $body = str_replace('$$USER_NAME$$', "John Doe", $body); Note the difference of double-quotes and single quotes. — Virendra
– Virendra, Commented Dec 31, 2011 at 19:37
I would suggest using {{}} for variable stuff in your templates. That way you are sure there is never confusion / a collision with PHP variables. — PeeHaa
– PeeHaa, Commented Dec 31, 2011 at 19:38
Thanks for the suggestion. The templates were actually made for some python code and I don't have control over them so I was just trying to get it to work with what's already there — user1124632
– user1124632, Commented Jan 1, 2012 at 1:12

Maxime Pacary · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-31 19:57:44Z

5

Try with single quotes:

$body = str_replace('$$USER_NAME$$', 'John Doe', $body);

otherwise the $ signs get interpreted by PHP (just try to do echo "$$USER_NAME$$" to understand that PHP will interpret it as echo $$USER_NAME."$$" or something similar).

You can as well resolve the problem by escaping the $ if you still want to use double quotes:

$body = str_replace("\$\$USER_NAME\$\$", "John Doe", $body);

Check the PHP manual page on Strings to know what are the differences between single quoted and double quoted strings in PHP.

edited Dec 31, 2011 at 19:57

answered Dec 31, 2011 at 19:38

Maxime Pacary

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1 Comment

user1124632 Over a year ago

I feel really stupid now. I've been struggling with this for hours and I never thought about PHP interpreting the $ sign. Thank you for letting me know!

Ben D · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-31 19:38:48Z

2

Your string "$$USER_NAME$$" needs to escape the dollar signs: "\$\$USER_NAME\$\$" or use single quotes

answered Dec 31, 2011 at 19:38

Ben D

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Comments

Virendra · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-03 21:53:57Z

2

Try this

$body = str_replace('$$USER_NAME$$', "John Doe", $body);

Note the difference of double-quotes and single quotes. When PHP sees double-quotes, it would try to parse the value inside it as variables and since your replacement string is $$USER_NAME$$ it your try to find the PHP variable.

You can rename you replacement string to something like __USER_NAME__. This will prevent the confusion.

Here is an article that I have written on PHP double quotes vs single quotes

edited Mar 3, 2014 at 21:53

answered Dec 31, 2011 at 19:41

Virendra

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Comments

techie_28 · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-31 19:43:29Z

1

You are giving the $$USERNAME$$ in double quotes.Which makes php engine to interpret it as a variable.Give it in single quotes and you are raring to go.

answered Dec 31, 2011 at 19:43

techie_28

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Comments

user1115253 · Accepted Answer · 2011-12-31 19:47:17Z

1

Use this

$body = str_replace('$$USER_NAME$$', "John Doe", $body);

instead of

$body = str_replace("$$USER_NAME$$", "John Doe", $body);

answered Dec 31, 2011 at 19:47

user1115253

Comments

Maxime Pacary · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-02 16:16:19Z

1

As others have pointed out single quotes are probably your problem. You should be able to rewrite your code as a one liner:

echo str_replace('$$USER_NAME$$', 'John Doe', file_get_contents('email/templates/welcome.txt'));

edited Jan 2, 2012 at 16:16

Maxime Pacary

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answered Dec 31, 2011 at 19:46

James C

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1 Comment

Maxime Pacary Over a year ago

+1 for pointing out that the fxxx() stuff can be replaced by file_get_contents(), but currently there is a parse error :)

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