The main group of files handling functions is that one that includes opening, reading, and writing to files.

The files handling funcitons are listed below:

  • fopen() - It is used to open a file.
  • fread() - It is used to read a file.
  • fwrite() - This is used to write in a file.
  • fclose() - Closes a file.
  • fgets() - A line can be read by using this function.
  • feof() - It checks if the end of file has reached.
  • fgetc() - It is used to read a single character from a file.

The fopen() function

Local or remote files can be accessed by using accessed fopen() function. This function allows using different modes of operation, depending on what we want to achieve.

Syntax for fopen() funciton

fopen ("filename", "method");

Where modes are:

The fopen() function modes

Modes

                                    Description

   r

                         Open a file for read only

   w

                         Open a file for write only

   a

                         Open a file for write only

   x

                         Creates a new file for write only

   r+

                         Open a file for read/write

   w+

                         Open a file for read/write

   a+

                         Open a file for read/write

   x+

                         Creates a new file for read/write

Basic example with fopen(), fread() and fclose() functions

<?php
    $file = fopen ("example_file.txt", "r") or die(); // open file or 'kill' script
    echo fread ($file, filesize("example_file.txt")); // reads file size
    fclose ($file); // close file
?>

Explanation of the example above: The fopen() function reads the file only (hence the extension “r”). Instead of “r” any of the other modes can be used, mentioned in the previous section. The rest of the functions read (fread()) the file's size (filesize()), and close the file (fclose()). Note that the die() function will stop the script if the file does not exist.

 

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