fread

(PHP 3, PHP 4 )

fread -- Binary-safe file read

Description

string fread ( resource handle, int length)

fread() reads up to length bytes from the file pointer referenced by handle. Reading stops when length bytes have been read or EOF (end of file) reached, whichever comes first.

<?php
// get contents of a file into a string
$filename = "/usr/local/something.txt";
$handle = fopen ($filename, "r");
$contents = fread ($handle, filesize ($filename));
fclose ($handle);
?>

Note: On systems which differentiate between binary and text files (i.e. Windows) the file must be opened with 'b' included in fopen() mode parameter.

<?php
$filename = "c:\\files\\somepic.gif";
$handle = fopen ($filename, "rb");
$contents = fread ($handle, filesize ($filename));
fclose ($handle);
?>

See also fwrite(), fopen(), fsockopen(), popen(), fgets(), fgetss(), fscanf(), file(), and fpassthru().