How can I edit PHP files?

File handling is an important part of any web application. You often need to open and process a file for different tasks.


PHP Manipulating Files

PHP has several functions for creating, reading, uploading, and editing files.

Be careful when manipulating files!

When you are manipulating files you must be very careful.

You can do a lot of damage if you do something wrong. Common errors are: editing the wrong file, filling a hard-drive with garbage data, and deleting the content of a file by accident.


PHP readfile() Function

The readfile() function reads a file and writes it to the output buffer.

Assume we have a text file called "webdictionary.txt", stored on the server, that looks like this:

AJAX = Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
CSS = Cascading Style Sheets
HTML = Hyper Text Markup Language
PHP = PHP Hypertext Preprocessor
SQL = Structured Query Language
SVG = Scalable Vector Graphics
XML = EXtensible Markup Language

The PHP code to read the file and write it to the output buffer is as follows (the readfile() function returns the number of bytes read on success):

The readfile() function is useful if all you want to do is open up a file and read its contents.

The next chapters will teach you more about file handling.



PHP Exercises

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Assume we have a file named "webdict.txt", write the correct syntax to open and read the file content.

In this tutorial we will show you how to create, edit and delete file using PHP and HTML. By using these methods you can create any type of file, edit any file and delete any file.

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How can I edit PHP files?

To Create, Edit And Delete File It Takes Only Two Steps:-

  1. Make a HTML file and define markup
  2. Make a PHP file to create, edit and delete file

Step 1. Make a HTML file and define markup

We make a HTML file and save it with a name file.html




 
 



 
 
 



 
 




In this step we create three forms to create, edit and delete file. In first form user have to enter file name to create new file.

In second form user have to enter file name and text to add in that file.In third form user have to enter file name to delete that file.You may also like delete multiple records from MySQL using PHP.

Step 2. Make a PHP file to create, edit and delete file

We make a PHP file and save it with a name file_operation.php

In this step we create three isset() function to do three different file operations like create a file, edit existing file and delete a file.

In first isset() function we get file name entered by the user to create file with that name we specify '.txt' file extension you can specify any extension or you can ask from user also then we use fopen function to create file and then using fclose function to close that file.

See fopen is used for both purposes creating and editing a file.

In third isset() function we get file name to delete entered by the user then we use unlink function to delete that file from folder.

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Thats all, this is how to create, edit and delete file using PHP and HTML. You can customize this code further as per your requirement. And please feel free to give comments on this tutorial.

In this quick post, we’re going to discuss different ways to open and edit a PHP file. If you are a novice to PHP programming, this article should help you to choose among the best tools available for PHP programming.

PHP is a server-side scripting language which is mostly used to build web applications—these may range from a very simple blog website to a full-fledged eCommerce store. In fact, PHP is one of the most popular server-side scripting languages for web development.

A PHP file is a plain text, human readable file which may contain HTML tags or PHP code. In fact, if you want to open a PHP file, all you need is a simple text editor which is already available on your system. Having said that, the recommended way is to use tools that are built specifically for PHP programming as they provide a lot of useful features like syntax highlighting, code autocomplete, and advanced search, to name a few.

In the next section, we'll go through a couple of the best editors and integrated development environments (IDEs) available for PHP programming.

Explore the Best Tools for PHP Programming

A PHP file is a plain text file, so you can open it in any text editor like VI, Notepad, or Sublime Text.

For beginners, tools like Notepad++ should do, since they'll just be running small snippets of code. But as you move towards more serious PHP programming, you should consider upgrading to advanced editors and IDEs that support syntax highlighting, syntax autocomplete, and advanced search features. Nowadays, you could also use cloud-based PHP editors that allow you to work from anywhere and keep your code always online.

When it comes to PHP development, a couple of the most popular and feature-rich editors and IDEs are:

  • Sublime Text
  • PhpStorm
  • Eclipse
  • NetBeans
  • and more

In fact, there are a lot of editors and IDEs available that support PHP syntax. But it ultimately comes down to your own personal choice—you have to try a few options and select the best fit for you. Personally, I love to work with Sublime Text and PhpStorm. For Windows users, Notepad++ is also a very good choice, as it’s pretty lightweight and is a go-to tool for beginners.

In this article, we won’t go into the details of advanced PHP editors, but if you’re curious about them, feel free to ask questions in the comment section. You can also check out our other articles on text editors, or take our course on choosing a text editor:

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How to Open a PHP File?

In this section, we’ll see how you could open a PHP file with the Notepad++ software. You should be able to open a file with the .php extension in any editor that supports PHP and is installed on your system.

So for example, if you have installed Notepad++ and Eclipse on your system, when you right-click any PHP file and inspect the Open with option, you should be able to see Notepad++ and Eclipse as choices along with the other default text editors.

Let’s say that you have a hello_world.php file which you want to open with the Notepad++ editor. Go ahead and right-click the file, and select the Edit with Notepad++ option. That should open that file in the Notepad++ editor, as shown in the following screenshot.

How can I edit PHP files?
How can I edit PHP files?
How can I edit PHP files?

Notepad++ is a pretty lightweight editor, and it’s not in the same league as advanced IDEs like Eclipse and PHPStorm, but it’s still a really useful editor when you are learning the ins and outs of PHP programming.

I hope this post has helped you understand how to open and edit a PHP file and has introduced you to a couple of the best tools available for PHP programming. 

The Next Step: Learn PHP Programming

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How do I edit a PHP file?

A PHP file is a plain text file, so you can open it in any text editor like VI, Notepad, or Sublime Text.

How to edit a PHP file in Notepad?

This is done by navigating to File > Save As... In Notepad, add . php to the end of the filename and enclose in double quotations. This ensures the file will not be converted into a basic text file by Notepad.

How to edit PHP file in browser?

Click the button Open In Browser on StatusBar..
In the editor, right click on the file and click in context menu Open PHP/HTML/JS In Browser..
Use keybindings Shift + F6 to open more faster (can be changed in menu File -> Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts ).

Where can I edit PHP code?

Microsoft's Visual Studio is an open-source PHP editor for all platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. It features code debugging, embedded Git control, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, and code refactoring.