Web Programming Step by Step, 2nd Edition

Lecture 7: File I/O; Parameterization

Reading: 5.4.5; 6.1.1

Except where otherwise noted, the contents of this document are Copyright 2012 Marty Stepp, Jessica Miller, and Victoria Kirst. All rights reserved. Any redistribution, reproduction, transmission, or storage of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited without the author's expressed written permission.

PHP file I/O functions

Reading/writing files

Hello
how r u?

I'm fine

array(
	"Hello\n",     // 0
	"how r u?\n",  // 1
	"\n",          // 2
	"I'm fine\n"   // 3
)

"Hello\n
how r u?\n      // a single
\n              // string
I'm fine\n"

• file function returns lines of a file as an array (\n at end of each)
• file_get_contents returns entire contents of a file as a single string
  • file_put_contents writes a string into a file

The file function

// display lines of file as a bulleted list
$lines = file("todolist.txt");
foreach ($lines as $line) {        // for ($i = 0; $i < count($lines); $i++)
	print $line;
}

• file returns the lines of a file as an array of strings
• each ends with \n ; to strip it, use an optional second parameter:

  $lines = file("todolist.txt", FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES);
  

• common idiom: foreach or for loop over lines of file

Splitting/joining strings

$array = explode(delimiter, string);
$string = implode(delimiter, array);

$s  = "CSE 190 M";
$a  = explode(" ", $s);     // ("CSE", "190", "M")
$s2 = implode("...", $a);   // "CSE...190...M"

• explode and implode convert between strings and arrays
• for more complex string splitting, you can use regular expressions (later)

Example with explode

Martin D Stepp
Jessica K Miller
Victoria R Kirst

foreach (file("names.txt") as $name) {
	$tokens = explode(" ", $name);
	?>
	<p> author: <?= $tokens[2] ?>, <?= $tokens[0] ?> </p>
	<?php
}

Unpacking an array: list

list($var1, ..., $varN) = array;

Marty Stepp
(206) 685 2181
570-86-7326

list($name, $phone, $ssn) = file("personal.txt");
...
list($area_code, $prefix, $suffix) = explode(" ", $phone);

• the odd list function "unpacks" an array into a set of variables you declare
• when you know a file or line's exact length/format, use file and list to unpack it

Reading directories

• glob can accept a general path with the * wildcard character (more powerful)

glob example

// reverse all poems in the poetry directory
$poems = glob("poetry/poem*.dat");
foreach ($poems as $poemfile) {
	$text = file_get_contents($poemfile);
	file_put_contents($poemfile, strrev($text));
	print "I just reversed " . basename($poemfile) . "\n";
}

• glob can match a "wildcard" path with the * character
  • glob("foo/bar/*.doc") returns all .doc files in the foo/bar subdirectory
  • glob("food*") returns all files whose names begin with "food"
• the basename function strips any leading directory from a file path
  • basename("foo/bar/baz.txt") returns "baz.txt"

scandir example

<ul>
	<?php foreach (scandir("taxes/old") as $filename) { ?>
		<li>I found a file: <?= $filename ?></li>
	<?php } ?>
</ul>

• scandir includes current directory (".") and parent ("..") in the array
• don't need basename with scandir; returns file names only without directory

Reading/writing an entire file

// reverse a file
$text = file_get_contents("poem.txt");
$text = strrev($text);
file_put_contents("poem.txt", $text);

• file_get_contents returns entire contents of a file as a string
  • if the file doesn't exist, you will get a warning and an empty return string
• file_put_contents writes a string into a file, replacing its old contents
  • if the file doesn't exist, it will be created

Appending to a file

// add a line to a file
$new_text = "P.S. ILY, GTG TTYL!~";
file_put_contents("poem.txt", $new_text, FILE_APPEND);

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
All my base,
Are belong to you.

Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
All my base,
Are belong to you.
P.S. ILY, GTG TTYL!~

• file_put_contents can be called with an optional third parameter to append (add to the end) rather than overwrite

Web data

• most interesting web pages revolve around data
  • examples: Google, IMDB, Digg, Facebook, YouTube, Rotten Tomatoes
  • can take many formats: text, HTML, XML, multimedia
• many of them allow us to access their data
• some even allow us to submit our own new data
• most server-side web programs accept parameters that guide their execution

Query strings and parameters

URL?name=value&name=value...

http://www.google.com/search?q=Romney
http://example.com/student_login.php?username=stepp&id=1234567

• query string: a set of parameters passed from a browser to a web server
  • often passed by placing name/value pairs at the end of a URL
  • above, parameter username has value stepp, and sid has value 1234567
• PHP code on the server can examine and utilize the value of parameters
• a way for PHP code to produce different output based on values passed by the user

Query parameters: $_GET, $_POST

$user_name = $_GET["username"];
$id_number = (int) $_GET["id"];
$eats_meat = false;
if (isset($_GET["meat"])) {
	$eats_meat = true;
}

• $_GET["parameter name"] or $_POST["parameter name"] returns a GET/POST parameter's value as a string
• parameters specified as http://....?name=value&name=value are GET parameters
• test whether a given parameter was passed with isset

Example: Exponents

$base = $_GET["base"];
$exp = $_GET["exponent"];
$result = pow($base, $exp);
print "$base ^ $exp = $result";

exponent.php?base=3&exponent=4

Example: Print all parameters

<?php foreach ($_GET as $param => $value) { ?>
	<p>Parameter <?= $param ?> has value <?= $value ?></p>
<?php } ?>

print_params.php?name=Marty+Stepp&sid=1234567

• or call print_r or var_dump on $_GET for debugging