flock

[Anon]

Hi,

I would like to use a text file to implement a counter. Then I think I need to use flock before I write a new counter value into the text file. However, when I run that:

$fp = fopen("file.ext", "w");
flock($fp, 2);
fputs($fp, $count);
flock($fp, 3);
fclose($fp);

I find that file did not create. What's wrong with it?

Joe

[Anon]

It's probably a permissions problem: the user under which the server runs may not have authority to create files in the current directory. There are good reasons not to give this user (typically 'nobody' if you're running Apache) write permission under DOCUMENT_ROOT, but as long as only PHP needs to access the files there's no problem giving 'nobody' write permission to another directory outside the document tree.

Also: you should always check the return value of fopen() to see if it did succeed. If it didn't, and if 'track_errors' is on, then you can consult the global variable $php_errmsg to find out more about the error.