PHP file open for reading an internal file: tutorial and script code

Open and read a file with fopen()

Use fopen() when you need a file handle for controlled or incremental reading. Always check that the handle was created successfully, and close it with fclose() when finished.

$file = __DIR__ . '/data.txt';
$handle = fopen($file, 'r');
if ($handle !== false) {
    while (($line = fgets($handle)) !== false) {
        echo htmlspecialchars($line) . '<br>';
    }
    fclose($handle);
}

The examples below show additional variations and practical file-handling cases.

//$filename = "my_file.txt"; // Inside same directory 
$filename = "D://my_dir//y23_02.txt"; // Path to file  
$fd = fopen ($filename, "r"); // opening the file in read mode
$contents = fread ($fd, filesize($filename)); // reading the content
fclose ($fd);   
print($contents);

file:

Required path to the file or URL.

mode:

Type of access required.

r:

Read only.

r+:

Open for reading and writing

w:

writing only

w+:

Read and writing

a:

Adding data ( writing only ) at end of file

a+:

Adding data ( read and writing ) at end of file

x:

Create and open for writing

x+:

Create adn open for reading and writing

c:

Open for writing.

c+:

Open for reading and writing.

e:

Set close-on-exec flag on the opened file descriptor.

use_include_path:

Optional , to search for file in include path

context:

Optional , context stram resource

By using fopen we can read any external url also. We can write to a file by using fwrite function.

Using URL

$filename = "http://localhost/plus2net/php_tutorial/site_map-file.php"; // local url  
$fd = fopen ($filename, "r"); // opening the file in read mode
$contents = fread ($fd, 10000); // reading the content of the
fclose ($fd);   
print($contents);

We will be using fread() function to read the content by using a file pointer. Fread()reads up to length bytes from the file pointer referenced by fd.
Reading stops when length bytes have been read or EOF is reached,whichever comes first.

We can also used the function filesize() to know the size of the file and used it in the fread function.

<?php
$file = __DIR__ . '/delete.htm';
$handle = fopen($file, 'rb');
if ($handle === false) {
    exit('Unable to open file');
}
$contents = stream_get_contents($handle);
fclose($handle);
echo htmlspecialchars($contents, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
?>

Opening a URL by file_get_contents()

File Directory Functions
PHP

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

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ravi	08-12-2012
this code open the file in read format but the file is in encrypted format..its unreadable.please tell me the solution of this.

Nicholas	17-03-2010
Great lessons. Thank you very much :-)

Ram	28-07-2010
Very simple & useful.., Thanks a lot

	06-02-2023
this is amazing

fopen(): PHP File open to read internal file

Open and read a file with fopen()

Using URL

Subhendu Mohapatra