file() function in PHP

The file() function reads a file into an array.

Syntax

file(file_path,flag,context)

Parameters

• file − Path of the file.

• flag − The optional parameter flags can be one, or more, of the following constants −

  • FILE_USE_INCLUDE_PATH − Search for the file in the include_path.

  • FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES − Do not add newline at the end of each array element.

  • FILE_SKIP_EMPTY_LINES − Skip empty lines.

  • FILE_TEXT − The content is returned in UTF-8 encoding. You can specify a different encoding by creating a custom context. This flag cannot be used with FILE_BINARY. This flag is only available since PHP 6.

  • FILE_BINARY − The content is read as binary data. This is the default setting and cannot be used with FILE_TEXT. This flag is only available since PHP 6.

• context − It modifies the behaviour of the stream.

Return

The file() function returns the file in an array, whereas it returns false on failure.

Example

Let’s say we have a file “continents.txt” with the following content and lines.

The Earth has seven continents.
The continents are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.
Asia is the largest in area.
Australia is the smallest in terms of area.

Example

<?php
   print_r(file("continents.txt"));
?>

Output

Array
(
   [0] => The Earth has seven continents.
   [1] => The continents are: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.
   [2] => Asia is the largest in area.
   [3] => Australia is the smallest in terms of area.
)