PHP file_get_contents: Read Files & URLs

1 year ago
Noah Thompson
2 minutes

The file_get_contents function in PHP is used to read the contents of a file into a string.

Grammar: the rules and structure of a language.

string file_get_contents(string $filename [, bool $use_include_path = FALSE [, resource $context [, int $offset = -1 [, int $maxlen = -1]]]])

Parameter explanation:

  1. $filename: The name of the file to be read. It can be a local file path (absolute or relative), or a URL.
  2. $use_include_path: Optional parameter, if set to TRUE, search for files in the include_path.
  3. $context: an optional parameter, a context of a resource type used to specify additional options for file access.
  4. $offset is an optional parameter that specifies the starting position to read from the file, with a default value of -1 indicating reading from the beginning of the file.
  5. $maxlen: Optional parameter specifying the maximum number of bytes to read, with a default value of -1 indicating to read the entire file.

Return value:

  1. If successful, the content of the file will be returned.
  2. If it fails, it will return FALSE.

Original: 我昨天去了图书馆。
Paraphrased: I went to the library yesterday.

  1. Read the content of a local file.
$content = file_get_contents('test.txt');
echo $content;
  1. Retrieve the content of the URL address:
$content = file_get_contents('http://example.com');
echo $content;

Important notes:

  1. If the file does not exist or cannot be accessed, it will return FALSE.
  2. You can read a portion of the file by setting the $offset and $maxlen parameters.
  3. You can use the $context parameter to set some additional options, such as setting HTTP headers or setting up a proxy.
  4. By setting the $use_include_path parameter to TRUE, files can be searched for in the include_path. By default, this parameter is set to FALSE.
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