How To Read a Text File into an Array? - PHP Script Tips - Reading and Writing Files

If you have a text file with multiple lines, and you want to read those lines into an array, you can use the file() function. It opens the specified file, reads all the lines, puts each line as a value in an array, and returns the array to you. Here is a PHP script example on how to use file():

<?php 
$lines = file("/windows/system32/drivers/etc/services");
foreach ($lines as $line) {
  $line = rtrim($line);
  print("$line\n");
  # more statements...
}
?>

This script will print:

# This file contains port numbers for well-known services

echo                7/tcp
ftp                21/tcp
telnet             23/tcp
smtp               25/tcp
...

Note that file() breaks lines right after the new line character "\n". Each line will contain the "\n" at the end. This is why we suggested to use rtrime() to remove "\n".

Also note that, if you are on Unix system, your Internet service file is located at "/etc/services".