The file Function
The file function reads the contents of a file and returns it as an array, where each element corresponds to a line in the file. The first parameter of the function is the path to the file, and the second (optional) one is flags to modify the function's behavior.
Syntax
file(string $filename, int $flags = 0);
Flags
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
FILE_USE_INCLUDE_PATH |
Search for the file in the directories specified in the include_path. |
FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES |
Do not add newline characters (\n) to the end of each array element. |
FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES |
Skip empty lines when forming the array. |
Example
Let's read the contents of the file 'test.txt' and output the array of lines:
<?php
$res = file('test.txt');
print_r($res);
?>
Example
Using the FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES flag
to remove newline characters:
<?php
$res = file('test.txt', FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES);
print_r($res);
?>
Example
Reading a file with simultaneous use of multiple flags:
<?php
$res = file('test.txt', FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES | FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES);
print_r($res);
?>
See Also
-
the
file_get_contentsfunction,
which reads the contents of a file into a string -
the
fopenfunction,
which opens a file or URL -
the
readfilefunction,
which outputs the contents of a file -
the
parse_ini_filefunction,
which processes a configuration file
