Including template in shortcodes

Question

I am creating plugin that display a quotation From.

public function qt_shortcodez() {

        $QT_Options = get_option("qt_settings");

        $Form = '<table>
                        <tbody>
                            <tr>
                                <td><label>Company Name <span class="text-error">*</span></label></td>
                                <td><input type="text" name="username" id="username" /></td>
                            </tr>
                            <tr>
                                <td><label>Phone <span class="text-error">*</span></label></td>
                                <td><input type="text" name="username" id="phone" /></td>
                            </tr>
                            <tr>
                                <td><label>Email</label></td>
                                <td><input type="text" name="username" id="email" /></td>
                            </tr>
                        </tbody>
                    </table>';

        return $Form;

 }

But it is more bigger form then this($Form), Is there a way to use the template into the shortcodes? Like

public function qt_shortcodez() {

        $QT_Options = get_option("qt_settings");

        // I tried but it is not working :(
        include( sprintf('%s/template/shortcode.php', dirname(__FILE__)) );            
 }

Answer 1

I'm not quite sure this is what you are trying to do, however, this is one way to use an external template file for your shortcode output.

This is your shortcode function (e.g., in functions.php):

function qt_shortcodez() {
    return include 'template/shortcode.php';
} // function qt_shortcodez

And that is the very output (i.e., shortcode.php):

<?php
ob_start();
?>
<strong>Hi there!</strong>
<p>
    This is an include test for shortcodes...
</p>
<?php
return ob_get_clean();