PHP Back to Basics #11: Working with Files Support
In this tutorial, Gareth's going to take a detailed look at working with files in PHP. This can make a useful alternative to always using a database to persist your site data. For example if you're coding up a simple page counter, using a file on the server can make an extremely effective low overhead solution. This article covers:
- How to read and write files on the server (including setting permissions)
- Reading the contents of directories
- Checking whether files exist
- How to delete files from the server.
Gareth Downes-Powell
Gareth has a range of skills, covering many computer and internet related subjects. He is proficient in many different languages including ASP and PHP, and is responsible for the setup and maintenance of both Windows and Linux servers on a daily basis.
In his daily web development work he uses the complete range of Macromedia software, including Dreamweaver MX, Flash MX, Fireworks MX and Director to build a number of websites and applications. Gareth has a close relationship with Macromedia, and as a member of Team Macromedia Dreamweaver, he has worked closely in the development of Dreamweaver, and was a beta tester for Dreamweaver MX.
On a daily basis he provides support for users in the Macromedia forums, answering questions and providing help on a range of different web related subjects. He has also written a number of free and commercial extensions for Dreamweaver MX, to further extend its capabilities using its native JavaScript API’s or C++.
As a web host, Gareth has worked with a range of different servers and operating systems, with the Linux OS as his personal favourite. Most of his development work is done using a combination of Linux, Apache and MySQL and he has written extensively about setting up this type of system, and also running Apache and MySQL under Windows.