# Output Class

The Output class is a core class with one main function: To send the finalized web page to the requesting browser. It is also responsible for caching your web pages, if you use that feature.

Note

This class is initialized automatically by the system so there is no need to do it manually.

Under normal circumstances you won’t even notice the Output class since it works transparently without your intervention. For example, when you use the Loader class to load a view file, it’s automatically passed to the Output class, which will be called automatically by CodeIgniter at the end of system execution. It is possible, however, for you to manually intervene with the output if you need to.

- Class Reference

## Class Reference

class `CI_Output`
  `$parse_exec_vars = TRUE;`

    Enables/disables parsing of the {elapsed_time} and {memory_usage} pseudo-variables.

    CodeIgniter will parse those tokens in your output by default. To disable this, set this property to FALSE in your controller.

        $this->output->parse_exec_vars = FALSE;

  `set_output`($output)

    Parameters: | $output (string) – String to set the output to
    Returns: | CI_Output instance (method chaining)
    Return type: | CI_Output

    Permits you to manually set the final output string. Usage example:

        $this->output->set_output($data);

    Important

    If you do set your output manually, it must be the last thing done in the function you call it from. For example, if you build a page in one of your controller methods, don’t set the output until the end.

  `set_content_type`($mime_type[, $charset = NULL])

    Parameters: | $mime_type (string) – MIME Type idenitifer string $charset (string) – Character set
    Returns: | CI_Output instance (method chaining)
    Return type: | CI_Output

    Permits you to set the mime-type of your page so you can serve JSON data, JPEG’s, XML, etc easily.

        $this->output

                ->set_content_type('application/json')

                ->set_output(json_encode(array('foo' => 'bar')));

        $this->output

                ->set_content_type('jpeg') // You could also use ".jpeg" which will have the full stop removed before looking in config/mimes.php

                ->set_output(file_get_contents('files/something.jpg'));

    Important

    Make sure any non-mime string you pass to this method exists in application/config/mimes.php or it will have no effect.

    You can also set the character set of the document, by passing a second argument:

        $this->output->set_content_type('css', 'utf-8');

  `get_content_type`()

    Returns: | Content-Type string
    Return type: | string

    Returns the Content-Type HTTP header that’s currently in use, excluding the character set value.

        $mime = $this->output->get_content_type();

    Note

    If not set, the default return value is ‘text/html’.

  `get_header`($header)

    Parameters: | $header (string) – HTTP header name
    Returns: | HTTP response header or NULL if not found
    Return type: | mixed

    Returns the requested HTTP header value, or NULL if the requested header is not set. Example:

        $this->output->set_content_type('text/plain', 'UTF-8');

        echo $this->output->get_header('content-type');

        // Outputs: text/plain; charset=utf-8

    Note

    The header name is compared in a case-insensitive manner.

    Note

    Raw headers sent via PHP’s native `header()` function are also detected.

  `get_output`()

    Returns: | Output string
    Return type: | string

    Permits you to manually retrieve any output that has been sent for storage in the output class. Usage example:

        $string = $this->output->get_output();

    Note that data will only be retrievable from this function if it has been previously sent to the output class by one of the CodeIgniter functions like `$this->load->view()`.

  `append_output`($output)

    Parameters: | $output (string) – Additional output data to append
    Returns: | CI_Output instance (method chaining)
    Return type: | CI_Output

    Appends data onto the output string.

        $this->output->append_output($data);

  `set_header`($header[, $replace = TRUE])

    Parameters: | $header (string) – HTTP response header $replace (bool) – Whether to replace the old header value, if it is already set
    Returns: | CI_Output instance (method chaining)
    Return type: | CI_Output

    Permits you to manually set server headers, which the output class will send for you when outputting the final rendered display. Example:

        $this->output->set_header('HTTP/1.0 200 OK');

        $this->output->set_header('HTTP/1.1 200 OK');

        $this->output->set_header('Last-Modified: '.gmdate('D, d M Y H:i:s', $last_update).' GMT');

        $this->output->set_header('Cache-Control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate');

        $this->output->set_header('Cache-Control: post-check=0, pre-check=0');

        $this->output->set_header('Pragma: no-cache');

  `set_status_header`([$code = 200[, $text = '']])

    Parameters: | $code (int) – HTTP status code $text (string) – Optional message
    Returns: | CI_Output instance (method chaining)
    Return type: | CI_Output

    Permits you to manually set a server status header. Example:

        $this->output->set_status_header(401);

        // Sets the header as:  Unauthorized

    See here for a full list of headers.

    Note

    This method is an alias for Common function `set_status_header()`.

  `enable_profiler`([$val = TRUE])

    Parameters: | $val (bool) – Whether to enable or disable the Profiler
    Returns: | CI_Output instance (method chaining)
    Return type: | CI_Output

    Permits you to enable/disable the Profiler, which will display benchmark and other data at the bottom of your pages for debugging and optimization purposes.

    To enable the profiler place the following line anywhere within your Controller methods:

        $this->output->enable_profiler(TRUE);

    When enabled a report will be generated and inserted at the bottom of your pages.

    To disable the profiler you would use:

        $this->output->enable_profiler(FALSE);

  `set_profiler_sections`($sections)

    Parameters: | $sections (array) – Profiler sections
    Returns: | CI_Output instance (method chaining)
    Return type: | CI_Output

    Permits you to enable/disable specific sections of the Profiler when it is enabled. Please refer to the Profiler documentation for further information.

  `cache`($time)

    Parameters: | $time (int) – Cache expiration time in minutes
    Returns: | CI_Output instance (method chaining)
    Return type: | CI_Output

    Caches the current page for the specified amount of minutes.

    For more information, please see the caching documentation.

  `_display`([$output = ''])

    Parameters: | $output (string) – Output data override
    Returns: | void
    Return type: | void

    Sends finalized output data to the browser along with any server headers. It also stops benchmark timers.

    Note

    This method is called automatically at the end of script execution, you won’t need to call it manually unless you are aborting script execution using `exit()` or `die()` in your code.

    Example:

        $response = array('status' => 'OK');

        $this->output

                ->set_status_header(200)

                ->set_content_type('application/json', 'utf-8')

                ->set_output(json_encode($response, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT | JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES))

                ->_display();

        exit;

    Note

    Calling this method manually without aborting script execution will result in duplicated output.