File Handling with PHP

PHP Workshop

Files and PHP

File Handling
Data Storage
Though slower than a database

Manipulating uploaded files

From forms

Creating Files for download

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Open/Close a File
A file is opened with fopen() as a stream,
and PHP returns a handle to the file that
can be used to reference the open file in
other functions.
Each file is opened in a particular mode.
A file is closed with fclose() or when your
script ends.

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File Open Modes

r

Open for reading only. Start at beginning of

file.
r+ Open for reading and writing. Start at
beginning of file.
w
Open for writing only. Remove all previous
content, if file doesnt exist, create it.
a
Open writing, but start at END of current
content.
a+ Open for reading and writing, start at END
and create file if necessary.
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Checking for Existence

if (file_exists("names.txt"))
echo "names.txt exists\n";

names.txt exists

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File Open/Close Example

<?php
// open file to read
$toread = fopen(some/file.ext,r);
// open (possibly new) file to write
$towrite = fopen(some/file.ext,w);
// close both files
fclose($toread);
fclose($towrite);
?>

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Now what..?
If you open a file to read, you can use
more in-built PHP functions to read data..
If you open the file to write, you can use
more in-built PHP functions to write..

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Reading Data
There are two main functions to read data:
fgets($handle,$bytes)
Reads up to $bytes of data, stops at newline

fread($handle,$bytes)
Reads up to $bytes of data, stops at EOF.

So, whats the difference between fgets()

and fread()?
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Example of using fgets()

<?php
$handle =
fopen('/tmp/readfile.txt', "r");
$contents = '';
if ($handle) {
while (!feof($handle)) {
$contents =
fgets($handle, 10);
echo $contents;
exit;
}
fclose($handle);
}
?>
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Assume readfile.txt has contents:

abcdefg
123456789
So whats the output?
a) abcdefg
b) abcdefg
123456789
c) abcdefg
123

d) abcdefg
12
e) None of above

Example of using fread()

<?php
$handle =
fopen('/tmp/readfile.txt', "r");
$contents = '';
if ($handle) {
while (!feof($handle)) {
$contents .=
fread($handle, 10);
echo $contents;
exit;
}
fclose($handle);
}
?>

Assume readfile.txt has the

following contents:
abcdefg
123456789
So whats the output?
a) abcdefg
b) abcdefg
123456789
c) abcdefg
123
d) abcdefg
1
e) None of above

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Summary of fgets() and fread()

fgets() reads one line per time
It gets a line from file pointer

fread() will first read the entire file, then

determine the needed bytes afterward.
You can determine which method to use,
based on how you want to read the file.
If its a big file, we suggest you to use fgets()

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Reading Data
We need to be aware of the End Of File
(EOF) point..
feof($handle)
Whether the file has reached the EOF point.
Returns true if have reached EOF.

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Data Reading Example

$handle = fopen('people.txt', 'r');
while (!feof($handle)) {
echo fgets($handle, 1024);
echo '<br />';
}

fclose($handle);

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Data Reading Example

$handle = fopen('people.txt', 'r');
while (!feof($handle)) {
echo fgets($handle, 1024);
echo '<br />';
}

Open the file and assign the resource to $handle

fclose($handle);

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Data Reading Example

$handle = fopen('people.txt', 'r');
while (!feof($handle))
(!feof($handle)) {{
while
echo
echo fgets($handle,
fgets($handle, 1024);
1024);
echo
echo '<br
'<br />';
/>';
}
}

fclose($handle);

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While NOT at the end of the file, pointed

to by $handle,
get and echo the data line by line

Data Reading Example

$handle = fopen('people.txt', 'r');
while (!feof($handle)) {
echo fgets($handle, 1024);
echo '<br />';
}
Close the file

fclose($handle);
fclose($handle);

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File Open shortcuts..

There are two shortcut functions that dont
require a file to be opened:

$lines = file($filename)
Reads entire file into an array with each line a
separate entry in the array.
$str = file_get_contents($filename)
Reads entire file into a single string.

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Writing Data
To write data to a file use:
fwrite($handle,$data)
Write $data to the file.

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Data Writing Example

$handle = fopen('people.txt', 'a');
fwrite($handle, \nFred:Male);
fclose($handle);

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Data Writing Example

Open file to append data (mode 'a')

$handle
$handle == fopen('people.txt',
fopen('people.txt', 'a');
'a');
fwrite($handle,
fwrite($handle, \nFred:Male);
'\nFred:Male');
fclose($handle);

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Write new data (with line

break after previous data)

Other File Operations

Delete file
unlink('filename');

Rename (file or directory)

rename('old name', 'new name');

Copy file
copy('source', 'destination');

And many, many more!

www.php.net/manual/en/ref.filesystem.php
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Locking files
<?php
$fh = fopen(testfile.txt, r+) or die(Failed to open file);
$text = fgets($fh);
if(flock($fh, LOCK_EX)){
fseek($fh, 0, SEEK_END);
fwrite($fh, $text) or die(could not write to file);
flock($fh, LOCK_UN);
}
fclose($fh);
echo File testfile.txt successfully updated;
?>

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$_FILES usage

$_FILES => //HTTP File Upload variables

$_FILES[file][name]: The file name
$_FILES[file][type]: The file type
$_FILES[file][size]: The file size (in byte)
$_FILES[file][tmp_name]: The temporary
file saved on the server
$_FILES[file][error]: The error code
during the upload
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Uploading file
<html><head><title>PHP form upload</title></head><body>
<form method='post' action='question2.php' enctype='multipart/form-data'>
Select File: <input type='file' name='filename' size='10' />
<input type='submit' value='Upload' />
</form>
<?php
if($_FILES){
$name = $_FILES['filename']['name'];
move_uploaded_file($_FILES['filename']['tmp_name'],$name);
echo "Uploaded image '$name'<BR><img src='$name'/>";
}
?>

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Common multimedia types on the network

application/pdf
image/gif
multipart-form-data
text/xml
application/zip
image/jpeg
text/css video/mpeg
audio/mpeg

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image/png
text/html
video/mp4
audio/x-wav
image/tiff
text/plain
video/quicktime

Dealing With Directories

Open a directory
$handle = opendir('dirname');
$handle 'points' to the directory

Read entry from directory handle

readdir($handle)
Returns name of next file in directory
Files are sorted as on filesystem

Close a directory
closedir($handle)
Closes directory 'stream'
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Directory Example
$handle = opendir('./');
while(false !== ($file=readdir($handle)))
{
echo "$file<br />";
}

closedir($handle);

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Directory Example
$handle
$handle == opendir('./');
opendir('./');
Open current directory

while(false !== ($file=readdir($handle)))

{
echo "$file<br />";
}

closedir($handle);

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Directory Example
$handle = opendir('./');
while(false !==
!== ($file=readdir($handle)))
($file=readdir($handle)))
while(false
{ {
echo
"$file<br
/>";
echo
"$file<br
/>";
} }

closedir($handle);

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While readdir() returns a name, loop

through directory contents, echoing
results

Directory Example
$handle = opendir('./');
while(false !== ($file=readdir($handle)))
{
echo "$file<br />";
}

closedir($handle);
closedir($handle);
Close the directory stream

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Other Directory Operations

Get current directory
getcwd()

Change Directory
chdir('dirname');

Create directory
mkdir('dirname');

Delete directory (MUST be empty)

rmdir('dirname');

And more!
www.php.net/manual/en/ref.dir.php

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Review

Can open and close files.

Can read a file line by line or all at one go.
Can write to files.
Can upload a file into the server
Can open and cycle through the files in a
directory
Introduce some linux scripts related to the
filesystems
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