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Include File

An external file can be included anywhere in a Php file by using the Php include function:-

include("xxx.php")

The include command simply takes all the text that exists in the specified file and copies it into the file that uses the include function.

When a file is included:-

The code it contains inherits the variable scope of the line on which the include occurs.
Any variables available at that line in the calling file will be available within the called file.
From that point forward, all functions and classes defined in the included file have the global scope.

An Include Example

Say we wanted to create a common menu file that all our pages will use. A common practice for naming files that are to be included is to use the ".inc" extension. Since we want to create a common menu let's save it as "menu.inc".

menu.inc Code:

<html> <body>
<a href="index.php">Home</a> -
<a href="about.php">About Us</a> -
<a href="links.php">Links</a> -
<a href="contact.php">Contact Us</a> <br />

Save the above file as "menu.inc". Now create a new file, "index.php" in the same directory as "menu.inc". Here we will take advantage of the include function to add our common menu.

index.php Code:

<?php include("menu.inc"); ?>
    <p>
         Web pages that uses a common menu just need to include
        'menu.inc' and all will have uniform menu.(save a lot of coding
        works too)
    </p>
</body>
</html>

Display:

Home - About Us - Links - Contact Us

Web pages that uses a common menu just need to include 'menu.inc' and all will have uniform menu.(save a lot of coding works too)