a silly one?

[fluxman]

this is probably a silly question, but: when using php and (x)html, and all the inevitable "echo" statements, the (x)html rendered by php isn't indented or layed out properly or nicely when i click view source on my browser.

Now, i know this really doesn't matter...just wondered what other's thoughts were on keeping php rendered html tidy...do you just output html from php all "willy-nilly", or do you try your best to ensure the output is properly layed out?

i guess this extends to: what's your favourite / the best way to echo large html blocks in php?

[php_daemon]

Personally, I don't give a damn. You could add \t's to your strings if you wanna indent it.

[Mandes]

I pay more attention to the format of my PHP than of the HTML produced from it.

[Mittineague]

If you
echo "<tag/>";
echo "<tag/>";
echo "<tag/>"; etc. etc.
viewsource will show <tag/><tag/><tag/> ad infinitum
As said, you can indent with \t and you can add line breaks with \r \n
echo "<tag/>\r\n";
echo "\t<tag/>\r\n";
echo "<tag/>\r\n";
But if you want to be easy on yourself try heredoc syntax

$out_html =  <<< EOH
<tag/>
     <tag/>
<tag/>
EOH;

echo $out_html; 

[fluxman]

The trouble with heredoc is what if you want to echo html in this example?

function print()
{
    if (true) {
        if (true) {
            $out_html =  <<< EOH
<tag>
      <tag/>
</tag>
EOH;
         }
    }
    echo $out_html;
} 

now, my html mite be neatly layed out, but my php isn't. If i indent the EOH block html to match the php indenting, then the html becomes inproperly indented.
That's it!! i've had enough. I quit! this problem is just too much for me to bear

[Mandes]

i guess this extends to: what's your favourite / the best way to echo large html blocks in php?

Sorry, I missed this the first time around.

If youve got a lot of HTML to get through just pop out of PHP mode and back into HTML, then when you need to use PHP pop back in

<?php
// php here
?>
<!-- Bulk HTML code -->
<?php
// more php
?>