| # PHP Short Open Tags
## Warning Do not use the short form (<? ?>) of PHP open tag. Use the long form of PHP open tag (<?php ?>). Always switch "short form open tags" to "off" in the PHP configuration file. ## Why Using short tags is discouraged because they are in conflict with XML's open tag - '<?xml'. If the file is actually XML, the PHP interpreter will process everything after the '<?' as PHP code, resulting in a parsing error. Another reason to always use full PHP opening tags is to avoid the unknown. For example, a hosting provider that doesn't allow short open tags (<? ?>) on their servers. ## Testing older scripts For testing older scripts, you can switch short open tags "on" temporarily. After testing, be sure to switch short form open tags "off" and retest the scripts ## Convert older scripts as follows: Replace all occurrences of (<? ?>) with (<?php ?>) Replace all occurrences of (<?=) with (<?php echo) Replace all occurrences of (<% %>) with (<?php ?>) There's a similar issue with ASP-like <% %> tags. The Uniform Server Zero default is asp_tags = Off Replace all occurrences of (<% %>) with (<?php ?>) --oOo--