PHP Filesystem fclose() Function

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The PHP Filesystem fclose() function is used to close a file. This is important as it saves resources and ensures that all data is written to the file properly. So this function is able to close any open file.

The file pointer must be valid, and it must point to a file successfully opened by fopen() or fsockopen() function.

Syntax

Below is the syntax of the PHP Filesystem fclose() function −

bool fclose ( resource $handle )

Parameters

The parameters are needed to use the fclose() function are mentioned below −

Return Value

It returns TRUE on success, or FALSE on failure.

PHP Version

The fclose() function was first introduced as part of core PHP 4 and work well with the PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8.

Example

In the below PHP code we will show you the basic usage of the PHP Filesystem fclose() function. View the sample of code below −

<?php
   // Open the file in read mode
   $handle = fopen('myfile.txt', 'r');

   // Close the file handle
   fclose($handle);

   // Print a message 
   echo "The file is successfully closed.";
?>

Output

This will produce the following result −

The file is successfully closed.

Example

We will create a small program to show the usage of fclose() function to close the given file. Check the below code in PHP −

<?php
   // Define handle here
   $handle = fopen("/PhpProject/sample.txt", "r");

   // close the file here using fclose()
   fclose($handle);

   //echo the message 
   echo "File closed successfully";
?>

Output

This will generate the below result −

File closed successfully

Example

In the below code we will try to open the file and perform the write operation on it and then close it using fclose() function in PHP.

<?php
   // Open a file for writing
   $file = fopen("myfile.txt", "w");

   // Write some content to the file
   fwrite($file, "Hello, world!");

   // Close the file
   fclose($file);

   echo "File Closed Successfully.";
?> 

Output

This will create the below outcome −

File Closed Successfully.

Example

Consider a scenario in which you have to open multiple files and you need to close them. So in that case you can use fclose() function to close all the files opened.

<?php
   // Open first file for reading
   $file1 = fopen("file1.txt", "r");

   // Open second file for writing
   $file2 = fopen("file2.txt", "w");

   // Perform operations on files...

   // Close the first file
   fclose($file1);

   // Close the second file
   fclose($file2);

   echo "All the files has been closed successfully.";
?> 

Output

This will lead to the following outcome −

All the files has been closed successfully.

Example

Let us say you want to open a file and after appending some content to it you want to close the file. In that case you can use fclose() function to close the file.

<?php
   // Open a file for appending
   $file = fopen("log.txt", "a");

   // Append some data to the file
   fwrite($file, "User logged in at " . date("Y-m-d H:i"));

   // Append more data...
   fwrite($file, "User performed some action at " . date("Y-m-d H:i"));

   // Close the file
   fclose($file);

   echo "File closed successfully.";
?> 

Output

The result of this PHP code is −

File closed successfully.

Note

In order to ensure data integrity and save resources, you should always use fclose() after finishing file operations.

Summary

The fclose() function in PHP can be used to close an open file. This method is necessary for both efficient resource management and data integrity.