Take a look at the PHP function ob_start(), which can buffer all output and save it. For more information, visit here.
Additionally, you can refer to this link for the specific function you need. For a simpler version, check out this link.
Here is a simple but effective solution:
In template.php:
<?php
echo '<p>Now is: <?php echo date("l, j F Y, H:i:s"); ?> and the weather is <strong><?php echo $weather; ?></strong></p>';
echo "<p>Template is: " . date("l, j F Y, H:i:s") . "</p>";
sleep(2); // wait for 2 seconds
?>
In actualpage.php:
<?php
function get_include_contents($filename) {
if (is_file($filename)) {
ob_start();
include $filename;
return ob_get_clean();
}
return false;
}
// Variables
$weather = "fine";
// Evaluate the template
eval("?>" . get_include_contents("template.php"));
?>
You can save the contents of template.php or actualpage.php using file_put_contents() to a file like cached.php. Then you can have actualpage.php check the date of cached.php and either create a new one or reuse the existing one.
Based on comments, here is how you can cache the template:
<?php
function get_include_contents($filename) {
if (is_file($filename)) {
ob_start();
include $filename;
return ob_get_clean();
}
return false;
}
file_put_contents("cachedir/cache.php", get_include_contents("template.php"));
?>
To run this, you can directly execute the cached file or include it in another page like this:
<?php
// Variables
$weather = "fine";
include("cachedir/cache.php");
?>