How to I sort a string that is in a .txt file using php?

Question

I would like to display the 'words' in alphabetical order, but all of the examples of solutions that I have come across, are not working for me.

I have tried using the implode() and explode() functions, using the file() function, and then using the sort() function.

Any help is very much appreciated, thank you!

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>words list</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Word List</h1> 
    <?php
      @$fp = fopen("words.txt", 'rb');
      flock($fp, LOCK_SH); // lock file for reading



      while (!feof($fp)) {
         $words= fgets($fp);
     explode($words, "\n");
         file($words);
         sort($words);

         echo htmlspecialchars($words)."<br />";
      }
      flock($fp, LOCK_UN); // release read lock

      fclose($fp); 
    ?>
  </body>
</html>

I'm trying to make a glossary. Every line of the txt file is another word. Mostly just test words so far. — Joe C.
– Joe C., Commented Apr 17, 2019 at 2:22
have you considered the many many advantages of a database over a flat file? — user10051234
– user10051234, Commented Apr 17, 2019 at 3:21

Rasa Mohamed · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-17 03:02:24Z

3

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>words list</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Word List</h1> 
    <?php
    $lines = file("words.txt");
    print_r($lines);
    natsort($lines); // this will sort lines in your file
    print_r($lines);
    // This was optional here you can overwrite existing file or can create new file
    file_put_contents("newtime.txt", implode("\n", $lines)); 
    ?>
  </body>
</html>

I checked and It works for me ! ! !

answered Apr 17, 2019 at 3:02

Rasa Mohamed

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3 Comments

Joe C. Over a year ago

Thank you! this is exactly what I needed!

Joe C. Over a year ago

do you know of a way I can list just the sorted words array? I have tried using for loops but they do not work. Thank you for your time!

Rasa Mohamed Over a year ago

From my assumption you are asking for list sorted array right?, foreach ($lines as $key => $value) { echo $value; }

Yoko Ishioka · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-17 03:12:23Z

0

Sorry; I misread your question. You need to put the values into an array in order to sort it.

> $i = 0;
>      while (!feof($fp)) {
>              $words[$i] = fgets($fp);
>              
>              $i++;
>           }
>      sort($words);
>     echo htmlspecialchars($words)."<br />";

edited Apr 17, 2019 at 3:12

answered Apr 17, 2019 at 2:47

Yoko Ishioka

1615 bronze badges

1 Comment

Yoko Ishioka Over a year ago

Your way is less efficient, turning it into a string and then making it into an array. You're also just overwriting the value $words with the last line of code. Then, you turn your string array into one big array with file, so there's nothing to sort.

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