file_get_contents Reads entire file into a string stringfile_get_contents stringfilename booluse_include_path resourcecontext Identical to file, except that file_get_contents returns the file in a string. On failure, file_get_contents will return &false;. file_get_contents 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. If you're opening a URI with special characters, such as spaces, you need to encode the URI with urlencode. ]]> ¬e.bin-safe; &tip.fopen-wrapper; ¬e.context-support; &warn.ssl-non-standard; See also fgets, file, fread, include, and readfile.