{"id":89,"date":"2021-03-08T00:16:42","date_gmt":"2021-03-08T00:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phptutorial.net\/?page_id=89"},"modified":"2025-04-06T07:48:46","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T07:48:46","slug":"php-include-file","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.phptutorial.net\/php-tutorial\/php-include-file\/","title":{"rendered":"PHP Include"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you will learn how to include code from a file using the PHP include<\/code> construct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to PHP include construct #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The include<\/code> construct allows you to load the code from another file into a file. Here’s the syntax of the include<\/code> construct:<\/p>\n\n\n

include<\/span> 'path_to_file'<\/span>;<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
In this syntax, you place the path to the file after the include<\/code> keyword. For example, to load the code from the functions.php<\/code> file into the index.php<\/code> file, you can use the following include<\/code> statement:<\/p>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span> \n\n\/\/ index.php file<\/span>\ninclude<\/span> 'functions.php'<\/span>;<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
If PHP cannot find the 'functions.php'<\/code> file in the src<\/code> directory, it’ll issue a warning. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n
Warning: include<\/span>(functions.php): failed to open stream: No such file or<\/span> directory in ... on line 4<\/span>\nWarning: include<\/span>(): Failed opening 'functions.php'<\/span> for<\/span> inclusion (include_path='\\xampp\\php\\PEAR'<\/span>) in ... on line 4<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
When loading the functions.php<\/code> file, PHP first looks for the functions.php<\/code> file in the directory specified by the include_path<\/code>. In this example, it’s '\\xampp\\php\\PEAR'<\/code>. If PHP can find the functions.php<\/code> file there, it loads the code from the file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Otherwise, PHP searches the functions.php<\/code> file in the directory of the calling script and the current working directory. If PHP can find the functions.php<\/code> file there, it loads the code. Otherwise, it issues a warning if the file doesn’t exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When PHP loads the functions.php<\/code> file, it executes the code inside the functions.php<\/code> file. For example, if you place the following code in the functions.php<\/code> file:<\/p>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\n\n\/\/ functions.php<\/span>\n\nfunction<\/span> get_copyright<\/span>()<\/span>\n<\/span>{\n\treturn<\/span> 'Copyright &copy; '<\/span> . date('Y'<\/span>) . ' by phptutorial.net. All Rights Reserved!'<\/span>;\n}\n\necho<\/span> get_copyright();<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
and include the functions.php<\/code> in the index.php<\/code> file, you’ll see the following output when you run the index.php<\/code> file:<\/p>\n\n\n
Copyright \u00a9 2021<\/span> by phptutorial.net. All Rights Reserved!<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
This demonstrated that the include<\/code> construct does make PHP execute code in the functions.php<\/code> file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PHP include example #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In practice, you’ll often use the include<\/code> construct to the page elements from a general site design. For example, all pages on your website may have the same header and footer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To avoid repeating these elements on multiple pages, you can place the code of the header and footer in separate files such as header.php<\/code> and footer.php<\/code> and include them on the pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Typically, you place the template files\u00a0 header.php<\/code> and footer.php<\/code> in a separate directory. By convention, the name of the include<\/code> directory is inc<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n
.\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 index.php\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 functions.php\n\u251c\u2500\u2500 inc\n\u2502   \u251c\u2500\u2500 footer.php\n\u2502   \u2514\u2500\u2500 header.php\n\u2514\u2500\u2500 public<\/span>\n    \u251c\u2500\u2500 css\n    \u2502   \u2514\u2500\u2500 style.css\n    \u2514\u2500\u2500 js\n        \u2514\u2500\u2500 app.js<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The header.php<\/code> file contains the code of the header of the page. It has a link to the style.css<\/code> file located in the public\/css<\/code> directory:<\/p>\n\n\n
<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html lang=\"en\"<\/span>>\n\t<head>\n\t\t<meta charset=\"UTF-8\"<\/span> \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"viewport\"<\/span> content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0\"<\/span> \/>\n\t\t<link rel=\"stylesheet\"<\/span> href=\"public\/css\/style.css\"<\/span>>\n\t\t<title>PHP include<\/span> Example<\/title>\n\t<\/head>\n\t<body><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The footer.php<\/code> file contains the code related to the footer of the page:<\/p>\n\n\n
<script src=\"js\/app.js\"<\/span>><\/script>\n<\/body>\n<\/html><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
In the index.php<\/code> file, you can include the header.php<\/code> and footer.php<\/code> file like this:<\/p>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span> include<\/span> 'inc\/header.php'<\/span>; ?><\/span>\n\n<h1>PHP include<\/span><\/h1>\n<p>This shows how the PHP include<\/span> construct works.<\/p>\n\n<?php<\/span> include<\/span> 'inc\/footer.php'<\/span>; ?><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
If you run the index.php<\/code> file and view the source code of the page, you’ll also see the code from the header.php<\/code> and footer.php<\/code> files:<\/p>\n\n\n
<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html lang=\"en\"<\/span>>\n\t<head>\n\t\t<meta charset=\"UTF-8\"<\/span> \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"viewport\"<\/span> content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0\"<\/span> \/>\n\t\t<link rel=\"stylesheet\"<\/span> href=\"public\/css\/style.css\"<\/span> \/>\n\t\t<title>PHP include<\/span> Example<\/title>\n\t<\/head>\n\t<body>\n\t\t<h1>PHP include<\/span><\/h1>\n\t\t<p>This shows how the PHP include<\/span> construct works.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<script src=\"public\/js\/app.js\"<\/span>><\/script>\n\t<\/body>\n<\/html><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Including outside a function example #<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
For example, the following defines the $title<\/code> and $content<\/code> variables in the functions.php<\/code>:<\/p>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span>\n\n\/\/ functions.php<\/span>\n\n$title = 'PHP include'<\/span>;\n$content = 'This shows how the PHP include construct works.'<\/span>;<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
When you include the functions.php<\/code> in the index.php<\/code> file, the $title<\/code> and $content<\/code> variables become the global variables in the index.php<\/code> file. And you can use them as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span> include<\/span> 'inc\/header.php'<\/span>; ?><\/span>\n\n\n<?php<\/span> include_once<\/span> 'functions.php'<\/span>; ?><\/span>\n\n<h1><?php<\/span> echo<\/span> $title; ?><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><?php<\/span> echo<\/span> $content; ?><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n<?php<\/span> include<\/span> 'inc\/footer.php'<\/span>; ?><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Including within a function example #<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
However, if you include a file in a function<\/a>, the variables from the included file are local to that function. See the following example:<\/p>\n\n\n
<?php<\/span> include<\/span> 'inc\/header.php'<\/span>; ?><\/span>\n<?php<\/span> include_once<\/span> 'functions.php'<\/span>; ?><\/span>\n\n<?php<\/span>\n\tfunction<\/span> render_article<\/span>()<\/span>\n\t<\/span>{\n\t\tinclude<\/span> 'functions.php'<\/span>;\n\n\t\treturn<\/span> \"<article>\n                    <h1>$title<\/h1>\n                $content\n                <\/article>\"<\/span>;\n\t}\n\n\techo<\/span> render_article();\n?><\/span>\n\n\n<?php<\/span> include<\/span> 'inc\/footer.php'<\/span>; ?><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
In this example, we include the functions.php<\/code> inside the render_article()<\/code> function. Therefore, the $title<\/code> and $content<\/code> variables from the functions.php<\/code> are local to the render_function()<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Summary #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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  • Use the PHP include<\/code> construct to load code from another script file.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    Did you find this tutorial useful?<\/div>\n\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/path>\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t Yes <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/path>\n\t\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t No <\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\n\t
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    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t
It’s important to note that all functions<\/a>, classes<\/a>, interfaces<\/a>, and traits<\/a> defined in the included file will have a global scope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PHP include & variable scopes #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When you include a file, all the variables defined in that file inherit the variable scope<\/a> of the line on which the include occurs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n