file() vs. file_get_contents()

[AV1611]

I'm having a hard time understanding the difference between file() and file_get_contents()

 

I usually use this when parsing a text file to a data base when the text file is on a website.

 

sometimes one works, sometimes the other works when you do something like this:

 

$lines=file('http://mysite.com/file.txt');

foreach($lines as $line_num => line){

...etc...

 

sometimes I have to do file_get_contents() instead...

 

Can someone explain?

 

Thanks.

[Barand]

If you want to treat the contents of the file as an an array of lines of text, use file();

 

If you want to treat the contents of the file as one single string, use file_get_contents()

[AV1611]

Here is the problem I don't understand on my new webserver I built:

 

I did this and it works:

 

$lines=file_get_contents('http://site.com/file.txt');

$lines=nl2br($lines);

$lines=explode("<br />",$lines);

foreach($lines as $line_num => $line){

...

 

Isn't that the same as this?  It produces no output...???

 

$lines=file('http://site/file.txt)

foreach....

 

??????????????????????????????

[AV1611]

I figured it out...

 

There was a  '  in the text that was messing up my parsing of the array...  I fixed it by escaping my quotes...

 

I gotta watch that in the future...