PHP variable-passing problem

This is a page of PHP (not from WordPress but somewhere else) to convert a post into a PDF. You can see it here, in the PDF link in the right-hand box: https://upmarketnewsletters.com/articles/sticky-post-2/

I keep getting this error:
Parse error: parse error, unexpected ‘(‘, expecting ‘,’ or ‘;’ in /home/newslett/public_html/wp-content/themes/tannaghcolors/pdf.php on line 17

Using the page below I set:
var $HREF = get_the_content();

***********Here’s what I inserted up top to make it work with WordPress:

<?php require(‘../../../wp-blog-header.php’); ?>
<?php if ($posts) : foreach ($posts as $post) : start_wp(); ?>

***********Here’s the original:

<?php // -*-php-*-
rcs_id(‘$Id: pdf.php,v 1.1.1.1 2004/04/13 23:41:40 braden Exp $’);

// PDF functions taken from FPDF https://www.fpdf.org
// Edited for PHPWebthings by Don Seb
// Feel free to edit , enhance the module, and please share it at https://www.phpdbform.com
// Keep PHPWT COOL submit your modules/themes/mods, it will help to improve ! ??

require_once(‘lib/fpdf.php’);

class PDF extends FPDF {
var $B = 0;
var $I = 0;
var $U = 0;
var $HREF = get_the_content();

function PDF ($orientation=’P’, $unit=’mm’, $format=’A4′) {
$this->FPDF($orientation,$unit,$format);
}

// Simple HTML to PDF converter
function ConvertFromHTML($html) {
$html = str_replace(“\n”,’ ‘,$html);
$a = preg_split(‘/<(.*)>/U’,$html,-1,PREG_SPLIT_DELIM_CAPTURE);
foreach($a as $i=>$e) {
if ($i % 2 == 0) {
//Tekst
if($this->HREF)
$this->PutLink($this->HREF,$e);
else
$this->Write(5,$e);
} else {
//Tag
if ($e{0} == ‘/’)
$this->CloseTag(strtoupper(substr($e,1)));
else {
//Filter de attributen
$a2 = explode(‘ ‘,$e);
$tag = strtoupper(array_shift($a2));
$attr = array();
foreach ($a2 as $v)
if (ereg(‘^([^=]*)=[“\’]?([^”\’]*)[“\’]?$’,$v,$a3))
$attr[strtoupper($a3[1])]=$a3[2];
$this->OpenTag($tag,$attr);
}
}
}
}

/* not yet used */
function Header() {
//URL – space from side – space from top – width
$imgurl = “…”; // header and wikilogo
$this->Image($imgurl,3,3,$imgwidth);
//Line break
$this->Ln(30);
}

/* not yet used */
function Footer() {
//global $cfg, $config, $lang;
//Positie 1.5 cm van de onderkant
$this->SetY(-15);
//Arial cursief 8
$this->SetFont(‘Arial’,’I’,8);
//Page number
//$this->Cell(0,10,$cfg[“core”][“url”],0,0,’C’);
//$this->Cell(0,10,’ Page ‘.$this->PageNo().’/{nb}’,0,0,’C’);
}

function OpenTag($tag,$attr) {
if($tag==’B’ or $tag==’I’ or $tag==’U’)
$this->SetStyle($tag,true);
if($tag==’A’)
$this->HREF=$attr[‘HREF’];
if($tag==’BR’)
$this->Ln(5);
}

function CloseTag($tag) {
if($tag==’B’ or $tag==’I’ or $tag==’U’)
$this->SetStyle($tag,false);
if($tag==’A’)
$this->HREF=”;
}

//Wijzig stijl en selecteer lettertype
function SetStyle($tag,$enable) {
$this->$tag+=($enable ? 1 : -1);
$style=”;
foreach(array(‘B’,’I’,’U’) as $s)
if($this->$s>0)
$style.=$s;
$this->SetFont(”,$style);
}

function PutLink($URL,$txt) {
// hyperlink as simple underlined text
$this->SetTextColor(0,0,255);
$this->SetStyle(‘U’,true);
$this->Write(5,$txt,$URL);
$this->SetStyle(‘U’,false);
$this->SetTextColor(0);
}
}

// Local Variables:
// mode: php
// tab-width: 8
// c-basic-offset: 4
// c-hanging-comment-ender-p: nil
// indent-tabs-mode: nil
// End:
?>

********I inserted this to to close what I inserted up top:

<?php endforeach; ?>
<?php endif; ?>