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In this lesson we will teach you how to read data from a file using various PHP functions.

File Open: Read

Before we can read a file we have to open it using fopen function.

Below is the code to read-open a file.

PHP Code:

$myFile = "testFile.txt";
$fh = fopen($myFile, 'r');

Here are the contents of "testFile.txt".

testFile.txt Contents:

Floppy Jalopy
Pointy Pinto

Now that the file is open, with read permissions enabled, we can get started!

File Read: fread Function

The fread function is the staple for getting data out of a file.

The function requires a file handle and an integer to tell the function how much data, in bytes, it is supposed to read.

One character is equal to one byte. If you wanted to read the first five characters then you would use five as the integer.

PHP Code:

$myFile = "testFile.txt";
$fh = fopen($myFile, 'r');
$theData = fread($fh, 5);
fclose($fh);

echo $theData;

Display:

Flopp

The first five characters from the testFile.txt file are now stored inside $theData. You could echo this string, $theData, or write it to another file.

If you wanted to read all the data from the file, then you need to get the size of the file.

The filesize function returns the length of a file, in bytes, which is just what we need.

The filesize function requires the name of the file that is to be sized up.

PHP Code:

$myFile = "testFile.txt";
$fh = fopen($myFile, 'r');
$theData = fread($fh, filesize($myFile));
fclose($fh);

echo $theData;

Display:

Floppy Jalopy Pointy Pinto

Note
For more detail please see Php Manual at http://www.php.net