php-doc-en/reference/filesystem/functions/file-get-contents.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- $Revision$ -->
<refentry xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xml:id="function.file-get-contents">
 <refnamediv>
  <refname>file_get_contents</refname> 
  <refpurpose>Reads entire file into a string</refpurpose>
 </refnamediv>

 <refsect1 role="description">
  &reftitle.description;
  <methodsynopsis>
   <type>string</type><methodname>file_get_contents</methodname>
   <methodparam><type>string</type><parameter>filename</parameter></methodparam>
   <methodparam choice="opt"><type>bool</type><parameter>use_include_path</parameter><initializer>false</initializer></methodparam>
   <methodparam choice="opt"><type>resource</type><parameter>context</parameter></methodparam>
   <methodparam choice="opt"><type>int</type><parameter>offset</parameter><initializer>0</initializer></methodparam>
   <methodparam choice="opt"><type>int</type><parameter>maxlen</parameter></methodparam>
  </methodsynopsis>
  <para> 
   This function is similar to <function>file</function>, except that
   <function>file_get_contents</function> returns the file in a 
   <type>string</type>, starting at the specified <parameter>offset</parameter> 
   up to <parameter>maxlen</parameter> bytes. On failure, 
   <function>file_get_contents</function> will return &false;.
  </para>
  <para>
   <function>file_get_contents</function> is the preferred way to read the
   contents of a file into a string.  It will use memory mapping techniques if
   supported by your OS to enhance performance.
  </para>
  <note>
   <para>
    If you're opening a URI with special characters, such as spaces, you
    need to encode the URI with <function>urlencode</function>.
   </para>
  </note>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="parameters">
  &reftitle.parameters;
  <para>
   <variablelist>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>filename</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Name of the file to read.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>use_include_path</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <note>
       <para>
        As of PHP 5 the <constant>FILE_USE_INCLUDE_PATH</constant> constant can be used
        to trigger <link linkend="ini.include-path">include path</link>
        search.
       </para>
      </note>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>context</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       A valid context resource created with 
       <function>stream_context_create</function>. If you don't need to use a
       custom context, you can skip this parameter by &null;.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>offset</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       The offset where the reading starts on the original stream.
      </para>
      <para>
       Seeking (<parameter>offset</parameter>) is not supported with remote files.
       Attempting to seek on non-local files may work with small offsets, but this
       is unpredictable because it works on the buffered stream.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
    <varlistentry>
     <term><parameter>maxlen</parameter></term>
     <listitem>
      <para>
       Maximum length of data read. The default is to read until end
       of file is reached. Note that this parameter is applied to the 
       stream processed by the filters.
      </para>
     </listitem>
    </varlistentry>
   </variablelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="returnvalues">
  &reftitle.returnvalues;
  <para>
   The function returns the read data &return.falseforfailure;.
  </para>
  &return.falseproblem;
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="errors">
  &reftitle.errors;
  <para>
   An <constant>E_WARNING</constant> level error is generated if <parameter>filename</parameter> cannot be found, <parameter>maxlength</parameter>
   is less than zero, or if seeking to the specified <parameter>offset</parameter> in the stream fails.
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="examples">
  &reftitle.examples;
  <para>
   <example>
    <title>Get and output the source of the homepage of a website</title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
$homepage = file_get_contents('http://www.example.com/');
echo $homepage;
?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
   </example>
   <example>
    <title>Searching within the include_path</title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
// <= PHP 5
$file = file_get_contents('./people.txt', true);
// > PHP 5
$file = file_get_contents('./people.txt', FILE_USE_INCLUDE_PATH);
?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
   </example>
   <example>
    <title>Reading a section of a file</title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
// Read 14 characters starting from the 21st character
$section = file_get_contents('./people.txt', NULL, NULL, 20, 14);
var_dump($section);
?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
    &example.outputs.similar;
    <screen>
<![CDATA[
string(14) "lle Bjori Ro" 
]]>
    </screen>
   </example>
   <example>
    <title>Using stream contexts</title>
    <programlisting role="php">
<![CDATA[
<?php
// Create a stream
$opts = array(
  'http'=>array(
    'method'=>"GET",
    'header'=>"Accept-language: en\r\n" .
              "Cookie: foo=bar\r\n"
  )
);

$context = stream_context_create($opts);

// Open the file using the HTTP headers set above
$file = file_get_contents('http://www.example.com/', false, $context);
?>
]]>
    </programlisting>
   </example>
  </para>
 </refsect1>
 
 <refsect1 role="changelog">
  &reftitle.changelog;
  <para>
   <informaltable>
    <tgroup cols="2">
     <thead>
      <row>
       <entry>&Version;</entry>
       <entry>&Description;</entry>
      </row>
     </thead>
     <tbody>
      <row>
       <entry>5.1.0</entry>
       <entry>
        Added the <parameter>offset</parameter> and
        <parameter>maxlen</parameter> parameters.
       </entry>
      </row>
     </tbody>
    </tgroup>
   </informaltable>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="notes">
  &reftitle.notes;
  &note.bin-safe;
  &tip.fopen-wrapper;
  &warn.ssl-non-standard;
 </refsect1>

 <refsect1 role="seealso">
  &reftitle.seealso;
  <para>
   <simplelist>
    <member><function>file</function></member>
    <member><function>fgets</function></member>
    <member><function>fread</function></member>
    <member><function>readfile</function></member>
    <member><function>file_put_contents</function></member>
    <member><function>stream_get_contents</function></member>
    <member><function>stream_context_create</function></member>
    <member><link linkend="reserved.variables.httpresponseheader">$http_response_header</link></member>
   </simplelist>
  </para>
 </refsect1>

</refentry>

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