Greetings,

Still learning - still fussing with my flatfiles

I have gone around in a variety of circles testing options.
time for help!!!!!

I want to give the user the option to change data in their (f'file) dbase entry.

$fh = fopen("$datafile","r+");
while(!feof($fh))
{ $line = fgets($fh);
$row = explode("\t",$line);
if ($row[0] == $name) // $name from login form

this gives me the row I am after
row[14] is the value I want to change.

I think to do something like:
$new_line = $row;
unset($row);
fwrite($fh,$new_line);

BUT it do no woik

am I heading in the right direction
where to from here
OR....

is there a simpler routine to modify a specific 'cell' value

I know it is pretty basic stuff but - until I get a good feel of the environment and its variables - "I'll be back..."

Any suggestions much appreciated.

thanks - arfa

You need to change $row[14] to the desired value, and then use the implode() function to collapse the array back to a string - this reverses the effect of explode() except that entry numbe 14 is changed.

PHP Code:

$row[14] = "New Value";
$new_line = implode("\t",$row);
fwrite($fh,$new_line); 


I'm unsure about the fwrite part - I don't use flatfiles much at all so I'm not sure if this will write to the correct line or just replace the whole file with that one line....

Hi Oberon,

I think what I have failed to appreciate is that fwrite needs to write the *whole* file - not just the line I am editing.
At least this is my current approach.

Many thanks for your suggestion.
I will set the final solution - as and when it arrives

arfa

I have always found it difficult to edit 1 line from a file then write it back. Instead I too get the file as an array, edit the element and write the whole thing back.

Its ok when the file is small but problems will no doubt emerge when your dealing with large files.

Ibbo

Cheers Ibbo,

Yes - an array (vert. entries) of arrays (horiz. cells) seems to be the way. I am making progress and am learning bits along the way.

> dealing with large files.
At the moment I am around 500 entries per file max so not so big.
My eventual move seems to SQL - but I am still getting the PHP environment into my head.

thanks - arfa