PHP Manual: Reads remainder of a stream into a string

Description

stringfalse stream_get_contents(resource $stream, intnull $length = null, int $offset = -1)

Identical to file_get_contents, except that stream_get_contents operates on an already open stream resource and returns the remaining contents in a string, up to length bytes and starting at the specified offset.

Parameters

stream (resource): A stream resource (e.g. returned from fopen)
length (int): The maximum bytes to read. Defaults to null (read all the remaining buffer).
offset (int): Seek to the specified offset before reading. If this number is negative, no seeking will occur and reading will start from the current position.

Return Values

Returns a string or false on failure.

Changelog

Version	Description
8.0.0	`length` is now nullable.

Examples

Example #1 stream_get_contents example

<?php

if ($stream = fopen('http://www.example.com', 'r')) {
    // print all the page starting at the offset 10
    echo stream_get_contents($stream, -1, 10);

    fclose($stream);
}


if ($stream = fopen('http://www.example.net', 'r')) {
    // print the first 5 bytes
    echo stream_get_contents($stream, 5);

    fclose($stream);
}

?>

Notes

Note: This function is binary-safe.

Note:
When specifying a length value other than null, this function will immediately allocate an internal buffer of that size even if the actual contents are significantly shorter.

stream_get_contents