readfile() & session_start() mystery

[Anon]

I have a script that reads a file and delivers it to the browser as in:

$result=readfile($path."\x5c".$match);

where $path is the path to the source directory and $match is the file name.

When the page containing this script is secured using PHP4 session management, the file viewing utility (Brio freeview 6) reports a "file not found" error in IE5.5 and loads garbage in NS4.77. When I test without calling session_start() in the script, it works fine everywhere.

The only thing I can think of is that the file viewing helper app is choking on the session headers. Any ideas on trouble shooting or theories to chase from left field are appreciated. I'm stumped and don't know how to diagnose further.

[Anon]

readfile() is not meant to return a value to be stored in a variable. readfile() simply reads and outputs the file to the screen. Depending on what it is that you are trying to do, use include() instead, or require().

If you simply want to store the value returned by a file into a varaible, try
$myfile = file().

That will return the contents of the file into an array $myfile.

[Anon]

Not sure about the precise usage of readfile(), but my intention was to output the file to the browser as you mentioned. I think readfile() returns a # of bytes when its succeeds and 'false' when it fails. I thought the assignment to $result would allow me to test outcomes while also outputing successful files to the browser.

The question is, what could be causing the readfile() to fail when, and only when, I use it in a script that begins with session_start(). Works like a top as long as I do not use session_start().

Thank you for your interest and suggestions.