Merge an associative array into a string template.

stringFromTemplate.php

<?php

/**
 * Merge an associative array into a string template.
 *
 * @param string $template
 * @param array $mergeFields
 * @return string
 */
function stringFromTemplate($template, $mergeFields)
{
    return str_replace(
        array_keys($mergeFields),
        array_values($mergeFields),
        $template);
}


// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Example:

// Make a string to use as a template. Include markers to use to indicate where
// to insert the merged field values. I used curly braces and caps to make them
// stand out, but it makes no difference.
$template = <<<'HTML'
<div class="example">
    <h1>{TITLE}</h1>
    <div class="description">{DESCRIPTION}</div>
</div><!-- .example -->
HTML;

// Make an associative array using markers from the template string as keys
// and the strings you'd like to merge into the template as values.
$fields = array(
    '{TITLE}' => 'My Title',
    '{DESCRIPTION}' => '<p>Here’s some intersting stuff...</p>'
);

// Call the function.
$merged = stringFromTemplate($template, $fields);
print $merged;

/*

Outputs:

<div class="example">
    <h1>My Title</h1>
    <div class="description"><p>Here’s some intersting stuff...</p></div>
</div><!-- .example -->

*/