The PHP Function fopen
PHP is a flexible programming language that offers you the freedom to work with a variety of file formats. One of the most important tools that you'll use to create and manipulate files in PHP is the fopen() function. In this article, you'll learn how to open files using fopen() and the different modes available for writing data to them. You'll also be introduced to a method for writing to files in PHP that is more streamlined than the standard readfile() function and will help you avoid common errors during the process. Finally, you'll learn how to properly handle any errors that occur during the write process using functions like fclose() and feof().
fopen() is a built-in function that is derived from the C programming language and provides a way to access and manipulate a file's content. It takes two parameters: the file name and the mode in which you want to open it. The mode allows you to choose between reading, writing and appending data to a file.
Read and Write Modes
The "r" mode opens the file for reading, ignoring any existing content. The "w" mode opens the file for writing and, if the file does not exist, will create it. The "w+" mode is similar to the "w" mode but adds an additional reading mode to the behavior. The "a" mode opens the file for appending. This mode is the most considerate of the three and will only add data to the end of an existing file, rather than overwriting it completely.