How would I use the include() function within an array?
For example, I have an array which lists a bunch of counties, instead of inputting all of the counties into an array, I created a .txt file of comma delimited counties. Logically, I think it's supposed to work as such:
array (include ("counties.txt"));
But it produces the list outside of the array's function.
is there a different method of using the include() function within an array?
One way is for your counties.txt file to have the following format:
<?php
return array(
'country1',
'country2',
// etc.
);
Then, just include it in your array like:
<?php
$arr = include('counties.txt');
Another method is to parse counties.txt like:
<?php
$list = file_get_contents('counties.txt');
// Normalize the linebreaks first
$list = str_replace(array("\r\n", "\r"), "\n", $list);
// Put each line into its own element within the array
$arr = explode("\n", $list);
Either way works and will produce the same result.
1 unless there is a return statement within the file. In that case, it will return the contents of the return; statement. So it wouldn't work with non-.php files anyway. I recommend instead using readfile() or filegetcontents() as is explained in the other answers.
Try file_get_contents()
$temp_string = file_get_contents('counties.txt');
$temp_array = array($temp_string);
I would try readfile(), separating each county on a new line. The readfile() function places each line of the file into an indexed array.
$array = readfile('counties.txt');
