fetch

This returns the template output instead of displaying it. Supply a valid template resource type and path. As an optional second parameter, you can pass a cache id. See the caching section for more information.

As an optional third parameter, you can pass a compile id. This is in the event that you want to compile different versions of the same template, such as having separate templates compiled for different languages. Another use for compile_id is when you use more than one $template_dir but only one $compile_dir. Set a separate compile_id for each $template_dir, otherwise templates of the same name will overwrite each other. You can also set the $compile_id variable once instead of passing this to each call to fetch().

include("Smarty.class.php");
$smarty = new Smarty;

$smarty->caching = true;

// only do db calls if cache doesn't exist
if(!$smarty->is_cached("index.tpl"))
{

    // dummy up some data
    $address = "245 N 50th";
    $db_data = array(
	    "City" => "Lincoln",
	    "State" => "Nebraska",
	    "Zip" = > "68502"
	    );

    $smarty->assign("Name","Fred");
    $smarty->assign("Address",$address);
    $smarty->assign($db_data);

}

// capture the output
$output = $smarty->fetch("index.tpl");

// do something with $output here

echo $output;