Deleting lines of text from a file

[BOMEz]

Hi all,

I'm just trying to delete some lines of text from a text file that I open with fopen.

Based on search results I've tried using

str_replace($_POST['mySearchString'], "", fgets($openedFile));

This gives no result
I've also tried it as :

str_replace($_POST['mySearchString'], "", $openedFile);

Where am I going wrong?

[nomad]

Question how are you open the file:
are you making it writing? is the file locked?

nomad

[Atli]

What are you doing with the return value of the function?

The str_replace function, like most of the string functions, doesn't alter the variables you pass into it, but rather uses those variables to create a new one, which it returns.

So, if you did:

$text = "I like oranges.";
$output = str_replace("oranges", "apples", $text);
echo $text;
 

It would still output "I like oranges."

The altered version "I like apples" would be in the $output variable.

[BOMEz]

What are you doing with the return value of the function?

The str_replace function, like most of the string functions, doesn't alter the variables you pass into it, but rather uses those variables to create a new one, which it returns.

So, if you did:

$text = "I like oranges.";
$output = str_replace("oranges", "apples", $text);
echo $text;
 

It would still output "I like oranges."

The altered version "I like apples" would be in the $output variable.

I don't need a return value, I'm just trying to get some lines of text out of a text file. For example if I have :

Cat1
Cat2
Cat3
Cat4
Cat5

and I want to get rid of Cat 3 from the text file replacing it with:

Cat1
Cat2
Cat4
Cat5

additionally I am opening the file with "r+" permissions.

[Atli]

I don't need a return value, I'm just trying to get some lines of text out of a text file.

Whether or not you need a return value is irrelevant.

Like I explained in my previous post, the str_replace function returns the altered string. It does not alter the strings you pass into it.
Therefore, if you want to change a string, you need to use the return value of the str_replace function, or the call is completely pointless.

In your case, however, the str_replace function isn't that useful.
I would just use the fgets function to copy a file line by line, skipping the lines that you want excluded.