PHP Function Stream_Filter_Append()
Streams are a powerful concept in PHP, and can be used for anything from file read/write processes to standard input/output processes. They’re like a conveyor belt of things that come to you one by one, rather than having to constantly do something yourself. There are a number of specific functions for performing various streams operations, and they’re used by many different plugins and extensions.
Amongst these, php function stream_filter_append() is a very useful function that allows you to apply filters to the stream. A filter is something that performs an operation on data as it’s being read or written. For example, you might want to change header information, or filter a stream for particular characters. Filters can be stacked onto streams, and the order of them is important when working with streams.
When you call stream_filter_append(), the new filter is added to the list of filters attached to the stream. By default, it will be attached to the read filter chain if the stream is opened for reading, and to the write filter chain if the stream is opened for writing. STREAM_FILTER_APPEND_READ, STREAM_FILTER_APPEND_WRITE, and STREAM_FILTER_ALL are alternative constants that can be passed to the function to override this behavior.
Just like with any other file or socket related function, there are a number of things that can cause an operation on a stream to fail. For example, a connection to a remote host may not be available, or an error within the stream itself might occur. Errors that affect a stream are typically reported as a warning level E_WARNING.