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PHP fseek() Function


< Complete PHP Filesystem Reference

Definition and Usage

The fseek() function seeks in an open file.

This function moves the file pointer from its current position to a new position, forward or backward, specified by the number of bytes.

This function returns 0 on success, or -1 on failure. Seeking past EOF will not generate an error.

Syntax

fseek(file,offset,whence)

Parameter Description
file Required. Specifies the open file to seek in
offset Required. Specifies the new position (measured in bytes from the beginning of the file)
whence Optional. (added in PHP 4). Possible values:
  • SEEK_SET - Set position equal to offset. Default
  • SEEK_CUR - Set position to current location plus offset
  • SEEK_END - Set position to EOF plus offset (to move to a position before EOF, the offset must be a negative value)

Tips and Notes

Tip: Find the current position by using ftell()!


Example

<?php
$file = fopen("test.txt","r");
// read first line
fgets($file);
// move back to beginning of file
fseek($file,0);
?>

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