PHP file_get_contents with php intact?

Question

As opposed to using an include, which executes the included php in the file...is it possible to save the contents of a php file to a variable - but with the php still intact and

Answer 1

Doing the include into the loop is not SO dumb.

All variables defined before the include will be accessible into your template.

Keep it simple !

== EDIT ==

Or maybe you could improve alex's answer :

function getTemplate($file, $template_params = array()) {

    ob_start(); // start output buffer
    extract($template_params); // see PHPDoc
    // from here $var1 will be accessible with value "value1"
    // so your template may contain references to $var1

    include $file;
    $template = ob_get_contents(); // get contents of buffer
    ob_end_clean();
    return $template;

}
echo getTemplate('your_template.php', array('var1' => 'value1'));

(Not so simple anymore ^^)