file

Function • Params and return types changed in PHP 8.0

Reads entire file into an array.

PHP 5
PHP 7
PHP 8.0
Improved
PHP 8.1
PHP 8.2-8.3
PHP 8.4
PHP 8.5
PHP 8.6

file Function synopsis

file(
    string $filename,
    int $flags = 0,
    $context = null
  ): array|false

Parameters

$filename

Typestring

Path to the file.

$flags

OptionalTypeintDefault value0

The optional parameter $flags can be one, or more, of the following constants:

$context

OptionalDefault valuenull

Return value

Typearray|false

Returns the file in an array. Each element of the array corresponds to a line in the file, with the newline still attached. Upon failure, file returns false.

Each line in the resulting array will include the line ending, unless
[`FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES`](/codex/FILE_IGNORE_NEW_LINES) is used.

Changes to the file Function

PHP 8.0

  • Return type added: array|false
  • Parameter type added for parameter #1 ($filename): string
  • Parameter type added for parameter #2 ($flags): int
  • Parameter default value added for position #2 ($flags): 0
  • Parameter default value added for position #3 ($context): null
  file(
-     $filename,
+     string $filename,
-     $flags,
+     int $flags = 0,
-     $context
+     $context = null
-   )
+   ): array|false

file Function Availability

PHP VersionAvailability
PHP 8.6Upcoming Release Yes
PHP 8.5Supported (Latest) Yes
PHP 8.4Supported Yes
PHP 8.3Security-Fixes Only Yes
PHP 8.2Security-Fixes Only Yes
PHP 8.1Unsupported Yes
PHP 8.0Unsupported Yes
PHP 7.4Unsupported Yes
PHP 7.3Unsupported Yes
PHP 7.2Unsupported Yes
PHP 7.1Unsupported Yes
PHP 7.0Unsupported Yes
PHP 5.6Unsupported Yes
PHP 5.5Unsupported Yes
PHP 5.4Unsupported Yes
PHP 5.3Unsupported Yes