file_get_contents Reads entire file into a string stringfile_get_contents stringfilename intuse_include_path resourcecontext Identical to file, except that file_get_contents returns the file in a string. file_get_contents is the preferred way to read the contents of a file into a string. It will use memory mapping techniques if support by your OS to enhance performance. ¬e.bin-safe; &tip.fopen-wrapper; Context support was added with PHP 5.0.0 See also: fgets, file, fread, include, and readfile.