Working With fopen and fclose in PHP

Working with fopen() and fclose()

Before you jump headfirst into working with files, you need to learn a bit about the fopen() function, which is used to open files. This function requires a filename and mode, and it returns a file pointer. A file pointer provides information about the file and is used as a reference. 



Table for Modes Used with fopen()

• r     Opens an existing file and reads data from it. The file pointer is placed at the beginning of   the file.
• r+    Opens an existing file for reading or writing. The file pointer is placed at the beginning of the file.
• w     Opens a file for writing. If a file with that name does not exist, the function creates a new file. If the file     exists, the function deletes all existing content and places the file pointer at the beginning of the file.
• w+   Opens a file for reading and writing. If a file with that name does not exist, the function creates a new file.         If the file exists, the function deletes all existing content and places the file pointer at the beginning of the     file.
• a     Opens a file for writing. If a file with that name does not exist, the function creates a new file. If the file     exists, the function places the file pointer at the end of the file.
• a+   Opens a file for reading and writing. If a file with that name does not exist, the function attempts to create anew file. If the file exists, the function places the file pointer at the end of the file.