In this article, we are going to discuss the differences between fopen() and fclose() functions.
fopen() function: This function helps users to open a file or a web URL. It mainly accepts two parameters – One is $file that specifies the file or an URL to be opened and the other is $mode that specifies in which mode the file needs to be opened. Let’s look into the syntax of fopen() function and sample program that uses fopen() function.
Syntax:
fopen( $file, $mode );
Parameters:
- $file specifies which file/URL to be open.
- $mode indicates in which mode the specified $file needs to open like read, write modes.
It returns a file pointer on success or a Boolean value FALSE on failure.
PHP
<?php // Opening a file in read mode $myFile = fopen("Geeks_for_Geeks.txt", "r") or die("No such file/directory is present"); ?> |
Output:
No such file/directory is present
fclose() function: The fclose() function helps to close the opened files. The fclose() function accepts only one parameter $file and closes the file which is pointed by the $file. Let’s look into the syntax and sample program of fclose() function.
Syntax:
fclose($file)
Parameters:
- $file is a pointer that points to the opened file.
It returns TRUE on success or FALSE on error.
PHP
<?php // Opening a file in read mode $myFile = fopen("Geeks_for_Geeks.txt", "r"); // Close the file using fclose() fclose($myFile); ?> |
Output:
True
Differences between fopen() and fclose() functions:
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fopen() |
fclose() |
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1 |
The fopen() function is used to open the file or an URL. |
The fclose() function closes the opened file. |
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2 |
It accepts four parameters. ($file, $mode, $include_path, $context) |
It accepts only 1 parameter. ($file) |
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3 |
$file, $mode are mandatory parameters among four. |
$file is the mandatory parameter. |
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4 |
It returns a file pointer on success or a Boolean value FALSE on failure. |
It returns Boolean values only i.e. either TRUE or FALSE. |
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5 |
Syntax of fopen() function is- fopen($file, $mode); |
Syntax of fclose() function is- fclose($file); |
