PHP Read File – Step-by-Step Guide

Basic PHP File Reading Methods

PHP provides several functions to read files:

fread()
fgets()
file_get_contents()
readfile()

Reading the Entire File with file_get_contents()

$content = file_get_contents("example.txt");
echo $content;

✅ Reads the entire file as a string.
✅ Simple and efficient for small files.
✅ Returns false on failure.

Reading a File Line by Line with fgets()

$file = fopen("example.txt", "r");

if ($file) {
    while (($line = fgets($file)) !== false) {
        echo $line . "<br>";
    }
    fclose($file);
} else {
    echo "Error opening the file.";
}

✅ Reads one line at a time.
✅ Suitable for large files.

Reading File in Chunks with fread()

$file = fopen("example.txt", "r");

if ($file) {
    $content = fread($file, filesize("example.txt"));
    echo $content;
    fclose($file);
} else {
    echo "Error opening the file.";
}

✅ Reads a specific number of bytes.
✅ Useful for binary files.

Using readfile() to Output File Contents

readfile("example.txt");

✅ Outputs the file directly to the browser.
✅ Returns the number of bytes read.

Handling File Errors

$file = "nonexistent.txt";

if (file_exists($file)) {
    echo file_get_contents($file);
} else {
    echo "File does not exist.";
}

Best Practices for PHP File Reading

🔒 Check if the file exists before reading.
🔒 Close the file after reading to free up resources.
🔒 Handle errors gracefully.

Complete PHP File Reading Code

$file = "example.txt";

if (file_exists($file)) {
    $handle = fopen($file, "r");

    while (($line = fgets($handle)) !== false) {
        echo htmlspecialchars($line) . "<br>";
    }

    fclose($handle);
} else {
    echo "File not found.";
}