Question: There is a function in Drupal 5 (`_phptemplate_variables()`) that has been deprecated in Drupal 6.
Is there a similar function in Drupal 6?

Answer: 
`_phptemplate_variables` in D5 have been changed into multiple functions.

The Drupal preprocess functions have changed from Drupal 5 -> Drupal 6, to make them hook based. So instead of having a single function that could be invoked for different hooks, Drupal 6 uses the naming system similar to how hooks is used in modules.

This is described in detail on Drupal.org: [Converting 5.x themes to 6.x](http://drupal.org/node/132442#theme-templates)
```
function phptemplate_preprocess_page(&$variables) {
  if (isset($variables['node'])) {
    $variables['template_files'][] = 'page-' . str_replace('_', '-', $variables['node']->type);
  }
  return $variables;
}

```