smartest way to replace string in a file with PHP

[sfullman]

I know I can do this:

//read the entire string
$str=implode("\n",file('somefile.txt'));

$fp=fopen('somefile.txt','w');
//replace something in the file string - this is a VERY simple example
$str=str_replace('Yankees','Cardinals',$str);

//now, TOTALLY rewrite the file
fwrite($fp,$str,strlen($str));

but, is there a more elegant and smarter way to rewrite a file that involves moving the cursor and replacing just a section of text? Seems that rewriting the file to replace one word is not smart

TIA,
samuel

[bpat1434]

Well, for one, right now, you're just recreating the entire file. You could use fopen('filename.txt', 'a'); however, you'd still have to search in there and replace it. There is no "easy" way to do it. I think what you have is fine.