parse_ini_file Parse a configuration file arrayparse_ini_file stringfilename boolprocess_sections parse_ini_file loads in the ini file specified in filename, and returns the settings in it in an associative array. By setting the last process_sections parameter to &true;, you get a multidimensional array, with the section names and settings included. The default for process_sections is &false; This function has nothing to do with the &php.ini; file. It is already processed, the time you run your script. This function can be used to read in your own application's configuration files. If a value in the ini file contains any non-alphanumeric characters it needs to be enclosed in double-quotes ("). Since PHP 4.2.1 this function is also affected by &safemode; and open_basedir. There are reserved words which must not be used as keys for ini files. These include: null, yes, no, true, and false. The structure of the ini file is similar to that of the &php.ini;'s. Constants may also be parsed in the ini file so if you define a constant as an ini value before running parse_ini_file, it will be integrated into the results. Only ini values are evaluated. For example: ]]> Would produce: 1 [five] => 5 [animal] => Dodo bird [path] => /usr/local/bin [URL] => http://www.example.com/~username ) Array ( [first_section] => Array ( [one] => 1 [five] => 5 [animal] = Dodo bird ) [second_section] => Array ( [path] => /usr/local/bin [URL] => http://www.example.com/~username ) ) ]]> Keys and section names consisting from numbers are evaluated as PHP integers thus numbers starting by 0 are evaluated as octals and numbers starting by 0x are evaluated as hexadecimals.