14_file_handling.php

<?php

/* ---------- File Handling --------- */

/* 
  File handling is the ability to read and write files on the server.
  PHP has built in functions for reading and writing files.
*/

$file = 'extras/users.txt';

// if(file_exists($file)) {
//   // Returns the content and number of bytes read from the file on success, or FALSE on failure.
//   echo readfile('extras/users.txt');
// }

// File Open, Read, Write, Close
if (file_exists($file)) {
  // fopen() gives you more control over the file.
  // Modes: r, w, a, x, r+, w+, a+, x+ See below for details
  $handle = fopen($file, 'r');
  // fread() reads the file and returns the content as a string on success, or FALSE on failure.
  $contents = fread($handle, filesize($file));
  // fclose() closes the file resource on success, or FALSE on failure.
  fclose($handle);
  echo $contents;
} else {
  // Create the file
  $handle = fopen($file, 'w');
  // PHP_EOL is a constant that represents the end of line character.
  $contents = 'Brad' .  PHP_EOL . 'Sara' .  PHP_EOL . 'Mike' .  PHP_EOL . 'John';
  // fwrite() writes the contents to the file and returns the number of bytes written on success, or FALSE on failure.
  fwrite($handle, $contents);
  fclose($handle);
}

/*
r	- Open a file for read only. File pointer starts at the beginning of the file
w	- Open a file for write only. Erases the contents of the file or creates a new file if it doesn't exist. File pointer starts at the beginning of the file
a	- Open a file for write only. The existing data in file is preserved. File pointer starts at the end of the file. Creates a new file if the file doesn't exist
x	- Creates a new file for write only. Returns FALSE and an error if file already exists
r+ -	Open a file for read/write. File pointer starts at the beginning of the file
w+ -	Open a file for read/write. Erases the contents of the file or creates a new file if it doesn't exist. File pointer starts at the beginning of the file
a+ -	Open a file for read/write. The existing data in file is preserved. File pointer starts at the end of the file. Creates a new file if the file doesn't exist
x+	- Creates a new file for read/write. Returns FALSE and an error if file already exists
*/