I'm trying to figure out how to stored php values in a string/file.
I have a text file with "var1=foo&var2=foo2" etc in it, is there a way to read the values?
You could use file_get_contents() to open the file and parse_url() to parse the contents into an associative array.
$file = file_get_contents('file.txt');
parse_str($file, $params);
CodePad.
Or if you can change it, theres always serialize() and unserialize()
Related
I was wondering how to save PHP variables to a txt file and then
retrieve them again.
Example:
There is an input box, after submitted the stuff that was written in
the input box will be saved to a text file. Later on the results need
to be brought back as a variable. So lets say the variable is $text I
need that to be saved to a text file and be able to retrieve it back
again.
This should do what you want, but without more context I can't tell for sure.
Writing $text to a file:
$text = "Anything";
$var_str = var_export($text, true);
$var = "<?php\n\n\$text = $var_str;\n\n?>";
file_put_contents('filename.php', $var);
Retrieving it again:
include 'filename.php';
echo $text;
Personally, I'd use file_put_contents and file_get_contents (these are wrappers for fopen, fputs, etc).
Also, if you are going to write any structured data, such as arrays, I suggest you serialize and unserialize the files contents.
$file = '/tmp/file';
$content = serialize($my_variable);
file_put_contents($file, $content);
$content = unserialize(file_get_contents($file));
(Sorry I can't comment just yet, otherwise I would)
To add to Christian's answer you might consider using json_encode and json_decode instead of serialize and unserialize to keep you safe. See a warning from the PHP man page:
Warning
Do not pass untrusted user input to unserialize(). Unserialization can result in code being loaded and executed due to object instantiation and autoloading, and a malicious user may be able to exploit this. Use a safe, standard data interchange format such as JSON (via json_decode() and json_encode()) if you need to pass serialized data to the user.
So your final solution might have the following:
$file = '/tmp/file';
$content = json_encode($my_variable);
file_put_contents($file, $content);
$content = json_decode(file_get_contents($file), TRUE);
for_example, you have anyFile.php, and there is written $any_variable='hi Frank';
to change that variable to hi Jack, use like the following code:
<?php
$content = file_get_contents('anyFile.php');
$new_content = preg_replace('/\$any_variable=\"(.*?)\";/', '$any_variable="hi Jack";', $content);
file_put_contents('anyFile.php', $new_content);
?>
Use a combination of of fopen, fwrite and fread. PHP.net has excellent documentation and examples of each of them.
http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.fopen.php
http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.fwrite.php
http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.fread.php
Use serialize() on the variable, then save the string to a file. later you will be able to read the serialed var from the file and rebuilt the original var (wether it was a string or an array or an object)
Okay, so I needed a solution to this, and I borrowed heavily from the answers to this question and made a library: https://github.com/rahuldottech/varDx (Licensed under the MIT license).
It uses serialize() and unserialize() and writes data to a file. It can read and write multiple objects/variables/whatever to and from the same file.
Usage:
<?php
require 'varDx.php';
$dx = new \varDx\cDX; //create an object
$dx->def('file.dat'); //define data file
$val1 = "this is a string";
$dx->write('data1', $val1); //writes key to file
echo $dx->read('data1'); //returns key value from file
See the github page for more information. It has functions to read, write, check, modify and delete data.
I used this to write a array into a text file:
$fp = fopen('file.txt', 'w');
fwrite($fp, print_r($newStrings, TRUE));
fclose($fp);
now i want to read it back in php just like i would read a normal array? how do i do it? I'm fairly new to this and im currently on a deadline to get something related tot this fixed, pls help.
var_export() would be valid PHP code that you could then include and work better than print_r(), but I recommend using JSON / json_encode(). serialize() would also work similar to JSON but isn't portable.
Write:
file_put_contents('file.txt', json_encode($newStrings));
Read:
$newStrings = json_decode(file_get_contents('file.txt'), true);
Use PHP serialize and unserialize to do this.
Writing to file:
$myArray = ['test','test2','test3'];
$fp = fopen('file.txt', 'w');
fwrite($fp, serialize($myArray));
fclose($fp);
Or slimmer:
file_put_contents('file.txt',serialize($myArray));
Reading it again:
$myArray = unserialize(file_get_contents('file.txt'));
Use json_encode() or serialize() on the data when you write it and then use json_decode() or unserialize() on the data when you have read it.
To see the differences check this question:
JSON vs. Serialized Array in database
I converted a .php file to an array using the file() function.
Now I modified the array and I want to put all it contents back to the file (keeping line endings)...
Someone can tell me if there is a function that does the opposite of file()?
I want to bypass the annoying "array to string conversion" way...
Thanks in advance!
Use file_put_contents() and implode():
file_put_contents('/your/file.php', implode(PHP_EOL, $fileArray));
I have a huge a CSV file which I parse to store the data in a PHP array. For different PHP files I have to parse it again and again to store it in the array. How can I prevent this by storing it in array and then have this array available to all PHP files?
apc_cache() is what you want. http://us.php.net/manual/en/function.apc-fetch.php
You can write it to a file. Use serialize() before. Then include the file each time you need it (include_once):
$my_csv_data = serialize($data);
Store the array in a file using serialize:
file_put_contents('file.txt', serialize($data));
Then when you need to access it again, use unserialize:
$data = unserialize(file_get_contents('file.txt'));
I was wondering how to save PHP variables to a txt file and then
retrieve them again.
Example:
There is an input box, after submitted the stuff that was written in
the input box will be saved to a text file. Later on the results need
to be brought back as a variable. So lets say the variable is $text I
need that to be saved to a text file and be able to retrieve it back
again.
This should do what you want, but without more context I can't tell for sure.
Writing $text to a file:
$text = "Anything";
$var_str = var_export($text, true);
$var = "<?php\n\n\$text = $var_str;\n\n?>";
file_put_contents('filename.php', $var);
Retrieving it again:
include 'filename.php';
echo $text;
Personally, I'd use file_put_contents and file_get_contents (these are wrappers for fopen, fputs, etc).
Also, if you are going to write any structured data, such as arrays, I suggest you serialize and unserialize the files contents.
$file = '/tmp/file';
$content = serialize($my_variable);
file_put_contents($file, $content);
$content = unserialize(file_get_contents($file));
(Sorry I can't comment just yet, otherwise I would)
To add to Christian's answer you might consider using json_encode and json_decode instead of serialize and unserialize to keep you safe. See a warning from the PHP man page:
Warning
Do not pass untrusted user input to unserialize(). Unserialization can result in code being loaded and executed due to object instantiation and autoloading, and a malicious user may be able to exploit this. Use a safe, standard data interchange format such as JSON (via json_decode() and json_encode()) if you need to pass serialized data to the user.
So your final solution might have the following:
$file = '/tmp/file';
$content = json_encode($my_variable);
file_put_contents($file, $content);
$content = json_decode(file_get_contents($file), TRUE);
for_example, you have anyFile.php, and there is written $any_variable='hi Frank';
to change that variable to hi Jack, use like the following code:
<?php
$content = file_get_contents('anyFile.php');
$new_content = preg_replace('/\$any_variable=\"(.*?)\";/', '$any_variable="hi Jack";', $content);
file_put_contents('anyFile.php', $new_content);
?>
Use a combination of of fopen, fwrite and fread. PHP.net has excellent documentation and examples of each of them.
http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.fopen.php
http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.fwrite.php
http://us2.php.net/manual/en/function.fread.php
Use serialize() on the variable, then save the string to a file. later you will be able to read the serialed var from the file and rebuilt the original var (wether it was a string or an array or an object)
Okay, so I needed a solution to this, and I borrowed heavily from the answers to this question and made a library: https://github.com/rahuldottech/varDx (Licensed under the MIT license).
It uses serialize() and unserialize() and writes data to a file. It can read and write multiple objects/variables/whatever to and from the same file.
Usage:
<?php
require 'varDx.php';
$dx = new \varDx\cDX; //create an object
$dx->def('file.dat'); //define data file
$val1 = "this is a string";
$dx->write('data1', $val1); //writes key to file
echo $dx->read('data1'); //returns key value from file
See the github page for more information. It has functions to read, write, check, modify and delete data.