PHP | fopen( ) (Function open file or URL)

Last Updated : 08 Jun, 2018

The fopen() function in PHP is an inbuilt function which is used to open a file or an URL. It is used to bind a resource to a steam using a specific filename. The filename and mode to be checked are sent as parameters to the fopen() function and it returns a file pointer resource if a match is found and a False on failure. The error output can be hidden by adding an ‘@’ in front of the function name.

Syntax:

resource fopen ( $file, $mode, $include_path, $context)

Parameters Used:
The fopen() function in PHP accepts four parameters.

$file: It is a mandatory parameter which specifies the file.
$mode: It is a mandatory parameter which specifies the access type of the file or stream.
It can have the following possible values:
- “r”: It represents Read only. It starts at the beginning of the file.
- “r+”: It represents Read/Write.It starts at the beginning of the file.
- “w”: It represents Write only.It opens and clears the contents of file or create a new file if it doesn’t exist.
- “w+”: It represents Read/Write. It opens and clears the contents of file or creates a new file if it doesn’t exist.
- “a”: It represents Write only. It opens and writes to the end of the file or creates a new file if it doesn’t exist.
- “a+”: It represents Read/Write. It preserves the file’s content by writing to the end of the file.
- “x”: It represents Write only. It creates a new file and returns FALSE and an error if the file already exists.
- “x+”: It represents Read/Write.It creates a new file and returns FALSE and an error if file already exists.
$include_path: It is an optional parameter which is set to 1 if you want to search for the file in the include_path (Ex. php.ini).
$context: It is an optional parameter which is used to set the behavior of the stream.

Return Value:
It returns a file pointer resource on success, or FALSE on error.

Exceptions:

When writing to a text file, the correct line-ending character should be used based on the platform.For example Unix systems use \n, Windows systems use \r\n, and Macintosh systems use \r as the line ending character.
It is recommended to use the ‘b’ flag when opening files with fopen().
An error of level E_WARNING is generated if the open fails.
When safe mode is enabled, PHP checks whether the directory in which the script is operating has the same UID (owner) as the script that is being executed.
If you are unsure whether filename is a file or a directory, you may need to use the is_dir() function before calling fopen() since fopen() function may also succeed when filename is a directory.

Below programs illustrate the fopen() function.

Program 1:

<?php 
// Opening a file using fopen()  
// function in read only mode 
$myfile = fopen("/home/geeks/gfg.txt", "r")  
                 or die("File does not exist!"); 
?> 

Output:

File does not exist!

Program 2:

<?php  
// Opening a file using fopen()  
// function in read/write mode 
$myfile = fopen("gfg.txt", 'r+')  
     or die("File does not exist!"); 
       
$pointer = fgets($myfile); 
echo $pointer; 
fclose($myfile); 
?> 

Output:

portal for geeks!

Program 3:

<?php  
// Opening a file using fopen() function 
// in read mode along with b flag 
$myfile = fopen("gfg.txt", "rb"); 
$contents = fread($myfile, filesize($myfile)); 
fclose($myfile); 
print $contents; 
?> 

Output:

portal for geeks!

Program 4:

<?php  
// Opening a file using fopen() function 
// in read/write mode  
$myfile = fopen("gfg.txt", "w+"); 
  
// writing to file 
fwrite($myfile, 'geeksforgeeks'); 
  
// Setting the file pointer to 0th  
// position using rewind() function 
rewind($myfile); 
  
// writing to file on 0th position 
fwrite($myfile, 'geeksportal'); 
rewind($myfile); 
  
// displaying the contents of the file 
echo fread($myfile, filesize("gfg.txt")); 
fclose($myfile); 
?> 