flat file delete entry

[music_man]

Hi

I was wondering if there was an equivalent to the WHERE operator for mysql for flatfiles?

For example: if I have the entries:

test|r0ghj
test2|gd90f8g

And I would like to delete test2's line with the url entries.php?action=delete then it would only delete that entry.

I think the w function deletes the whole file... which wouldn't help much.

[devinemke]

this is the inheirent flaw in using a flat file to emulate a database. you must do the following:

1. read the entire file in an array using [man]file[/man]
2. loop thru the array using [man]foreach[/man]
3. check each array value for the particular string the are looking for
4. if there is a match remove that array index using [man]unset[/man]
5. convert the array to a string using [man]implode[/man]
6. write entire string back to the file using [man]fopen[/man] and [man]fwrite[/man]

or...

use an actual database

[music_man]

I am aware that mysql is a better database. I have, however, spent a whole lot of time on a flatfile system. Are there any tutorials you could recommend please?

[devinemke]

music_man wrote:

Are there any tutorials you could recommend please?

i outlined all of the steps in my post above.

[music_man]

Yes I know. Thank you. I was wondering if there was an example based tutorial that you knew of.

[richie]

If you want to learn mysql, just search for "mysql tutorial" in any search engine, and go from there. There's a learning curve, you won't get too far in web design without database knowledge.

[music_man]

Thanks. I have used Mysql before. However my question was not about mysql. Does anyone know of a flat file tutorial where you can edit and delete entries with examples?