PHP File Open/Read

PHP fopen() function is used to open file or URL and returns resource. This function gives you more options than the readfile() function. The fopen() function accepts two arguments: $filename and $mode. The $filename represents the file to be opended and $mode represents the file mode for example read-only, read-write, write-only etc.

Syntax

<?php

fopen($file_name, $mode, $use_include_path, $context);

MY_FILE.txt

JPEG = Joint Photographic Experts Group

GIF = Graphics Interchange Format

PNG = Portable Network Graphics

PSD = Photoshop Document

SVG = Scalable Vector Graphics

Example

<!DOCTYPE HTML>  
<html>
<head>
	<title>File Handling - fopen()</title>
</head>
<body>  

<?php
$myfile = fopen("MY_FILe.txt", "r") or die("Unable to open file!");
echo fread($myfile,filesize("MY_FILE.txt"));
fclose($myfile);
?>

</body>
</html>

Output :

Mode	Description
r	Opens file in read-only mode. It places the file pointer at the beginning of the file.
r+	Opens file in read-write mode. It places the file pointer at the beginning of the file.
w	Opens file in write-only mode. It places the file pointer to the beginning of the file and truncates the file to zero length. If file is not found, it creates a new file.
w+	Opens file in read-write mode. It places the file pointer to the beginning of the file and truncates the file to zero length. If file is not found, it creates a new file.
a	Opens file in write-only mode. It places the file pointer to the end of the file. If file is not found, it creates a new file.
a+	Opens file in read-write mode. It places the file pointer to the end of the file. If file is not found, it creates a new file.
x	Creates and opens file in write-only mode. It places the file pointer at the beginning of the file. If file is found, fopen() function returns FALSE.
x+	It is same as x but it creates and opens file in read-write mode.

PHP Read File

The PHP read functions are given below.

fread()
fgets()
fgetc()

PHP Read File - fread()

The PHP fread() function is used to read data of the file. It requires two arguments: file resource and file size.

Syntax

fread($file, filesize("MY_FILE.txt"));

Example

<!DOCTYPE HTML>  
<html>
<head>
	<title>PHP Read File - fread()</title>
</head>
<body>  

<?php    
	$filename = "MY_FILE.txt";    
	$fp = fopen($filename, "r");//open file in read mode    
	 
	$contents = fread($fp, filesize($filename));//read file    
	  
	echo "<pre>$contents</pre>";
	fclose($fp);
?>    

</body>
</html>

Output :

PHP Read Single Line - fgets()

The fgets() function is used to read a single line from a file.

Syntax

string fgets ( resource $file [, int $file_name ] )

Example

<!DOCTYPE HTML>  
<html>
<head>
	<title>Read Single Line - fgets()</title>
</head>
<body>  
 
<?php    
	$file = fopen("MY_FILE.txt", "r");//open file in read mode    
	echo fgets($file);  
	fclose($file);  
?>    

</body>
</html>

Output :

PHP Read Single Character - fgetc()

The fgetc() function is used to read a single character from a file.

Syntax

string fgetc ( resource $file )

Example

<!DOCTYPE HTML>  
<html>
<head>
	<title>Read Single Character - fgetc()</title>
</head>
<body>  
 
<?php    
	$file = fopen("MY_FILE.txt", "r");//open file in read mode    
	while(!feof($file)) {  
	  echo fgetc($file);  
	}  
	fclose($file);  
?>     

</body>
</html>

Output :

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