How to Parse a Text File in PHP
PHP is a server-side language that provides file manipulation functions among its many features. Because of this versatility, there are many ways to approach the goal of parsing a text file. One approach is to parse the file contents into an array, which will set the stage for performing other operations on text files.
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Instructions
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Open the file for reading by using the "fopen" function. Using fopen binds the file to a stream, which is an abstracted sequence of data. In simplest terms, binding the file to a stream makes it possible to read, write and modify the data.
<?php
// Verify that the file exists.
$path = "list.txt";
if (file_exists($path))
{
$handle = fopen($path, "r");
}
?>
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Read the file stream using the "fscanf" function. The "fscanf" function returns portions of the file stream as an array.
This example shows using the "fscanf" function to read a file stream. The "fscanf" function works best on delimited word lists. It uses a format pattern to interpret the file. Although similar to a regular expression, the format parameter uses its own syntax, which is documented in the PHP "sprintf" function reference topic.
$format = "%s\t%s\n";
while ($item = fscanf($handle, $format)) {
list ($person, $food) = $item;
echo $item[0] . ": " . $item[1] . "<br />";
}
The preceding code example demonstrates parsing a tab-delimited list that contains first names, followed by various items. For example:
Carlos Toothpaste
Wendy Cupcakes
Walter Beans
Stanley Chips
The $format variable contains a format pattern "%s\t%s\n", which represents the pattern of the file: two string values "%s" separated by a tab "%t" and followed by a newline character "\n". The resulting array, $item, is set up so that for each line $item[0] contains a name, and $item[1] contains an item.
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Close the file stream using the "fclose" function. After file read operation is complete, always use the "fclose" function to close the file stream.
fclose($handle);
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Tips & Warnings
There are a few other functions that you can use to open a text file in PHP:
The "fgets" function returns one line of the file stream at a time.
The "fread" function returns n characters of the file stream.
The "file" function reads an entire file into an array.
The "file_get_contents" function reads an entire text file into a string.
Resources
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