highlight_file

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

highlight_file — Syntax highlighting of a file

Description

highlight_file ( string $filename [, bool $return = FALSE ] ) : mixed

Prints out or returns a syntax highlighted version of the code contained in filename using the colors defined in the built-in syntax highlighter for PHP.

Many servers are configured to automatically highlight files with a phps extension. For example, example.phps when viewed will show the syntax highlighted source of the file. To enable this, add this line to the httpd.conf:

AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps

Parameters

filename: Path to the PHP file to be highlighted.
return: Set this parameter to TRUE to make this function return the highlighted code.

Return Values

If return is set to TRUE, returns the highlighted code as a string instead of printing it out. Otherwise, it will return TRUE on success, FALSE on failure.

Notes

Caution

Care should be taken when using the highlight_file() function to make sure that you do not inadvertently reveal sensitive information such as passwords or any other type of information that might create a potential security risk.

Note:
When the return parameter is used, this function uses internal output buffering so it cannot be used inside an ob_start() callback function.

User Contributed Notes 19 notes

down

nospam at mbeulens dot nl ¶

11 years ago


This is my try on linenumbers
<?php
    public static function highlight_file_with_line_numbers($file) { 
          //Strip code and first span
        $code = substr(highlight_file($file, true), 36, -15);
        //Split lines
        $lines = explode('<br />', $code);
        //Count
        $lineCount = count($lines);
        //Calc pad length
        $padLength = strlen($lineCount);
        
        //Re-Print the code and span again
        echo "<code><span style=\"color: #000000\">";
        
        //Loop lines
        foreach($lines as $i => $line) {
            //Create line number
            $lineNumber = str_pad($i + 1,  $padLength, '0', STR_PAD_LEFT);
            //Print line
            echo sprintf('<br><span style="color: #999999">%s | </span>%s', $lineNumber, $line);
        }
        
        //Close span
        echo "</span></code>";
    }

?>

down

dynamicflurry [at] gmail dot com ¶

11 years ago


Here's a great function I found to add numbers to your highlighted code:



<?php

function highlight_num($file)

{

  $lines = implode(range(1, count(file($file))), '<br />');

  $content = highlight_file($file, true);



  

  echo '

    <style type="text/css">

        .num {

        float: left;

        color: gray;

        font-size: 13px;    

        font-family: monospace;

        text-align: right;

        margin-right: 6pt;

        padding-right: 6pt;

        border-right: 1px solid gray;}



        body {margin: 0px; margin-left: 5px;}

        td {vertical-align: top;}

        code {white-space: nowrap;}

    </style>';

    

    

    

    echo "<table><tr><td class=\"num\">\n$lines\n</td><td>\n$content\n</td></tr></table>";

}

highlight_num(__FILE__);

?>

down

mmcloughlin at gmail dot com ¶

12 years ago


You can trick this function to apply additional css rules to parts of the source code.

For example, if you wanted comments to appear in bold you could do the following

<?php
ini_set('highlight.comment', '#CCCCCC; font-weight: bold;');
highlight_file('file.php');
?>

This works because when highlight_file() writes out a comment it wraps it in <span style="color: {contents of hightlight.comment ini variable}">...</span>. Therefore as long as your ini value for highlight.comment starts with a color, you can put in whatever style declarations you like.

This applies to all of the other relavent ini values: highlight.default, highlight.html, highlight.keyword, highlight.string.

down

aidan at php dot net ¶

16 years ago


To add line numbers to source code, with optional function linking, use the below function:



http://aidanlister.com/repos/v/function.highlight_file_linenum.php



A much more thorough and smarter, though slower version is here:



http://aidanlister.com/repos/v/PHP_Highlight.php

down

afugit at imavex dot com ¶

11 years ago


This function will not only echo out the code but will add line numbers.  The extra code is for the multi-line and single-line comments using /* and */ and making sure they are highlighted appropriately.  If not used, the multi-line comments will not be displayed in orange (or the default comment color).



Anthony



=============



<?php

   function renderFile($filename) {

        if(file_exists($filename) && is_file($filename)) {

            $code = highlight_file($filename, true);

            $counter = 1;

            $arr = explode('<br />', $code);

            echo '<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="font-family: monospace;">' . "\r\n";

            foreach($arr as $line) {

                echo '<tr>' . "\r\n";

                    echo '<td width="65px" nowrap style="color: #666;">' . $counter . ':</td>' . "\r\n";



                    // fix multi-line comment bug

                    if((strstr($line, '<span style="color: #FF8000">/*') !== false) && (strstr($line, '*/') !== false)) { // single line comment using /* */ 

                        $comments = false;

                        $startcolor = "orange";

                    }   

                    elseif(strstr($line, '<span style="color: #FF8000">/*') !== false) { // multi line comment using /* */

                        $startcolor = "orange";

                        $comments = true;

                    }   

                    else { // no comment marks found

                        $startcolor = "green";

                        if($comments) { // continuation of multi line comment

                            if(strstr($line, '*/') !== false) {

                                $comments = false;

                                $startcolor = "orange";

                            }   

                            else {

                                $comments = true;

                            }   

                        }   

                        else { // normal line   

                            $comments = false;

                            $startcolor = "green";

                        }   

                    }   

                    // end fix multi-line comment bug



                    if($comments)

                        echo '<td width="100%" nowrap style="color: orange;">' . $line . '</td>' . "\r\n";

                    else

                        echo '<td width="100%" nowrap style="color: ' . $startcolor . ';">' . $line . '</td>' . "\r\n";



                    echo '</tr>' . "\r\n";

                    $counter++;

            }   

            echo '</table>' . "\r\n";

        }   

        else {

            echo "<p>The file <i>$filename</i> could not be opened.</p>\r\n";

            return;

        }   

    }

?>

down

SneakyWho_am_i ¶

12 years ago


From W on 20 August 2008:
YES! I do it too, on many of my things! I love to be able to share my code (when I have the right to do it) with friends who aren't working on the project.

<?php

if (isset($_GET['code'])) { die(highlight_file(__FILE__, 1)); }

?>

I like to do it like this. The benefit is minimal but personally for such a small thing I would like to keep it down to one line. Maybe there is a shorter way, I don't know.. But the magic constant __FILE__ saves the day!

To access this one would be http://example.com/path/to/script.php?code
the parameter just has to be set (? or &) and you don't need the equals sign.
This way I don't generate any errors in E_ALL (because I'm likely in development), and I don't have to remember if the value was supposed to be "true" or "1" or "abacus" or whatever (I mean you're never going to specifically ask to NOT show the code, right?)

Anyway I've gone on long enough. It's nice to not be the only one who does this :D

down

showsource at gmail dot com ¶

14 years ago


Please, be aware of just using marlon at mbwp dot nl example to show the sourcecode
Do as told in this manual, "CAUTION", do some check on what code to highlight.
Simply just using $_GET["file"] is very bad.

down

management at twilightus dot net ¶

13 years ago


Here's a better take at highlighting a file with line numbers:



<style type="text/css">

.num {

float: left;

color: gray;

text-align: right;

margin-right: 6pt;

padding-right: 6pt;

border-right: 1px solid gray;}

</style>

<?php

function highlight_num($file)

{

  echo '<code class="num">', implode(range(1, count(file($file))), '<br />'), '</code>';

  highlight_file($file);

}



highlight_num('file.php');

?>



Thanks for the implode() part from Arevos at programmingforums.org

down

moisadoru at gmail dot com ¶

13 years ago


A function which parses the output of highlight file and replaces &lt;span&gt; wits &lt;a&gt;, replaces the style="color: #XXXXXX" part with class="cX", storing the colors in some css rules; that way you get a smaller output size (ratio is about about 1.2 ~ 1.4):
<code>
<?php
function highlight_file2($fl,$ret){
    if(!isset($ret)) $ret = false;
    $str = highlight_file($fl,true);
    preg_match_all("/\<span style=\"color: #([\d|A|B|C|D|E|F]{6})\"\>.*?\<\/span\>/",$str,$mtch);
    $m = array_unique($mtch[1]);

    $cls = '<style type="text/css">'."\n";
    $rpl = array("</a>");
    $mtc = array("</span>");
    $i = 0;
    foreach($m as $clr) {
        $cls .= "a.c".$i."{color: #".$clr.";}\n";
        $rpl[] = "<a class=\"c".$i++."\">";
        $mtc[] = "<span style=\"color: #".$clr."\">";
    }
    $cls .= "</style>";
    $str2 = str_replace($mtc,$rpl,$str);
    if($ret) return $str2;
    else echo $str2;
}
?>
</code>

down

W ¶

12 years ago


Normally I add highlighting for files like so:

In every file that should be higlighted:
<?php
$tool_file=$_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']; $tool_file=basename($tool_file);
include_once('highlight.inc.php');
showCode();
?>

And in highlight.inc.php (or your init file):
<?php
function showCode() {
if ($_REQUEST['codeShow'] == 1) {
        highlight_file($codeName);
        exit ();
    }
}
?>

When a user will open the sourcecode (or you'll link to it) he just adds ?codeShow=1 to the filename.

down

comperr dot extra at gmail dot com ¶

12 years ago


Here is what I use
<?php

    /* array() ensures that ok[] cannot have paths inserted if register globals is enabled */

    $ok = array(
        'f1.php',
        'f2.php'
    );

    if (!in_array($_GET['f'], $ok))
    {
        die ('Not allowed to view this page');
    }
    else
    {
        highlight_file($_GET['f']);
    }?>

down

marlon at mbwp dot nl ¶

14 years ago


I use the folowing code to highlight a file with line numbers:

<?php
echo "<table bgcolor=#EEEEEE><tr><td width=30>";
for ($i = 1; $i <= count(file($_GET['file'])); $i++) echo $i.".<br>";
echo "</td><td>";
highlight_file($_GET['file']);
echo "</td></tr></table>";
?>

down

venski at gmail dot com ¶

14 years ago


I think it will be better if the variable contains the files that are allowed to be viewed. There can always befound a way to pass the name of a forbiddedn file that is not in the prohibited array.

Thus the code will be:

<?php
//array with files to allow
$allowed = array('index.php', 'menu.php', 'about.php');

// get the filename
$file = $_GET[file];
if(file_Exists($file)){
    if(in_array($file, $allowed)){
        // check if it is part of the allowed list
        highlight_file($file); //highlight file
    }
    else{
        // not allowed. just die. do not warn ;)
        die("");
    }
}
else{
    // file doesnt exist
    echo "The file does not exist.";       
}
?>

down

-1

tony at tonybaldwin dot me ¶

3 years ago


a practical application: http://wiki.tonybaldwin.me/doku.php/hax/misc/today
I pipe output of the old bsdcalendar script to a file with cron, on the daily, and then use this function to display "Today in History" data on a page.

down

csst0266 at cs dot uoi dot gr ¶

16 years ago


Here is a simple, yet useful, tip... Issuing the following command under a Unix-like OS:

ln -s your_script.php your_script.phps

Will result in the creation of a symbolic link (called your_script.phps) to the source code (your_script.php). This way you have (apart from the source code .php) the highlighted version of your script (.phps) accessible via your web browser.

down

-1

msn at toolskyn dot nl ¶

14 years ago


I use this (simple and dirty) function in my tutorials to add linenumbers. I let all the linenumbers in one table cell so it is easier for people to copy and paste the code (so they don't have to remove all the linenumbers):

<?php
function highlight_with_linenum($file)
{
    //open handle, set vars
    $handle = fopen($file, "r");
    $count = 1;
    $lines = "";

    //look line ends
    while ($thisone = fread($handle, "1")) 
    {
        if ($thisone == "\n") 
        {
            //add number
            $lines .= $count . "<br />";
            $count++;
        }
    }    
    //close handle
    fclose($handle);

    //highlight contents
    $contents = highlight_file($file, TRUE);
        
    //print output (you could as well return now)
    print '<table><tr><td><code>' . 
          $lines . '</code></td><td>' . 
          $contents . '</td></tr></table>';    
}
?>

Maybe it's of use to someone

down

-4

design at joelalejandro dot com dot ar ¶

11 years ago


Just my two cents - a function that takes PHP source code from a file and decodes it to text/plain MIME-type. 



Cheers,

Joel A. Villarreal Bertoldi



<?php

function phps2array($fileName)

{

    return explode("\r", html_entity_decode(strip_tags(highlight_file($fileName, true))));

}

?>



Example:

####################################



samplefile.php:

<?php

$a = 1;



/* This is my file*/

echo $a;

?>



parser.php:

<?php

header("Content-Type: text/plain");

print_r(parse_php_file("samplefile.php"));

?>



####################################

Results:

####################################



Array

(

    [0] => <?php

    [1] => $a = 1;

    [2] => 

    [3] => /* This is my file*/

    [4] => echo $a;

    [5] => ?>

)



####################################

down

-2

Anonymous ¶

11 years ago


I get linenumbers this way... cause I don't like tables :p



<?php



function highlight_linenumbers ($page)

{



    // remove <code> and global <span>

    $code = highlight_file($page, true) ,36,-15);



    echo '<ol style="font-family:monospace; color:', ini_get('highlight.{default}') , ';">';



    $arr = explode('<br />', $code);

    foreach( $arr as $line )

    {

        // removing newline

        $line = substr($line, 0, -1);



        //empty lines

        if( preg_match('`^(&nbsp;)*$`',$line) ) $line = '&nbsp;';



        // add colour from the previous line

        if( !empty($last_colour) ) $s = '<span style="color:'.$last_colour .'">'. $s;

        

        // Supposing we open more spans on a line than closing... let's do this properly

        // We have at most one currently opened span

        if( substr_count($line, '<span') - substr_count($line, '</span') > 0 )

        {

                $line .= '</span>';



                // Grab colour to report it on next line

                $last_colour = explode('<span ',$line);

                $last_colour = $last_colour[count($last_colour)-1];

            

                $last_colour = substr($last_colour,strpos($last_colour,'#'),7);



                else $last_colour = NULL;



                echo '<li>',$line,"</li>\r";

        }



        echo '</ol>';

}



?>

down

-3

paul at cheddar dot vaughany dot com ¶

14 years ago


It's a basic idea but one maybe worth sharing.

<?php
switch($_GET['file']) {
    case 1:
        highlight_file("file1.php");
        break;
    case 2:
        highlight_file("file2.php");
        break;
    case 3:
        highlight_file("file3.php");
        break;
    default:
        header("Location: ".$_SERVER["PHP_SELF"]);
}
?>

Save the script as showfile.php and access it like this:

<a href="showfile.php?file=1">Click here to see file 1 source code</a>

The default case is for people editing the URL to try to access further files. Just don't add any files you don't want users to see, and maybe hard-code in large, random numbers or MD5 hashes.

add a note

highlight_file

Description

Parameters

Return Values

Notes

See Also

User Contributed Notes 19 notes