PHP Output Buffering

Question

Simple question:

If I enable output buffering...

ob_start();
  $a = true;
  header('Location: page.php'); 
  $a = false;
ob_end_flush();

... will $a be registered as false, or will it just redirect the page without processing the command (as it would if output buffering were not enabled)?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Unless you call exit() or die() after the header redirect, $a will be false as the rest of the page continues to parse (with or without the buffering).

Unless you have a special reason, header("Location: ..."); should always be followed by one of the above functions as to not waste cpu cycles or memory.

Answer 2

Output buffering does exactly what the name infers, nothing more. It only buffers the output, not variable assignment or object state. In this case $a would be set to false at the end of the code sample you provided. What happens after that is up to your code execution.