Write a string to a file

file_get_contents
file
Filesystem Functions
PHP Manual

# file_put_contents

(PHP 5)

file_put_contents — Write a string to a file

### Description

int file_put_contents ( string `$filename` , mixed `$data` [, int `$flags` = 0 [, resource `$context` ]] )

This function is identical to calling fopen(), fwrite() and fclose() successively to write data to a file.

If `filename` does not exist, the file is created. Otherwise, the existing file is overwritten, unless the `FILE_APPEND` flags is set.

### Parameters

`filename`

  Path to the file where to write the data.

`data`

  The data to write. Can be either a string , an array or a stream resource.

  If `data` is a stream resource, the remaining buffer of that stream will be copied to the specified file. This is similar with using stream_copy_to_stream().

  You can also specify the `data` parameter as a single dimension array. This is equivalent to file_put_contents($filename, implode('', $array)).

`flags`

  The value of `flags` can be any combination of the following flags (with some restrictions), joined with the binary OR (|) operator.

  Available flags
  Flag | Description
  --- | ---
  `FILE_USE_INCLUDE_PATH` | Search for `filename` in the include directory. See include_path for more information.
  `FILE_APPEND` | If file `filename` already exists, append the data to the file instead of overwriting it. Mutually exclusive with LOCK_EX since appends are atomic and thus there is no reason to lock.
  `LOCK_EX` | Acquire an exclusive lock on the file while proceeding to the writing. Mutually exclusive with FILE_APPEND.

`context`

  A valid context resource created with stream_context_create().

### Return Values

The function returns the number of bytes that were written to the file, or `FALSE` on failure.

### Examples

Example #1 Simple usage example

`<?php
$file = 'people.txt';
// Open the file to get existing content
$current = file_get_contents($file);
// Append a new person to the file
$current .= "John Smith\n";
// Write the contents back to the file
file_put_contents($file, $current);
?>`

Example #2 Using flags

`<?php
$file = 'people.txt';
// The new person to add to the file
$person = "John Smith\n";
// Append the contents of $person to the file named by $file.
file_put_contents($file, $person, FILE_APPEND);
?>`

### Changelog

Version | Description
--- | ---
5.0.0 | Added context support
5.1.0 | Added support for `LOCK_EX` and the ability to pass a stream resource to the `data` parameter

### Notes

> Note: This function is binary-safe.

Tip

A URL can be used as a filename with this function if the fopen wrappers have been enabled. See fopen() for more details on how to specify the filename. See the List of Supported Protocols/Wrappers for links to information about what abilities the various wrappers have, notes on their usage, and information on any predefined variables they may provide.

### See Also

- fopen() - Opens file or URL
- fwrite() - Binary-safe file write
- file_get_contents() - Reads entire file into a string
- stream_context_create() - Create a streams context

file_get_contents
file
Filesystem Functions
PHP Manual