file handling

Anon

i tried to write a file using this code:

<?
if (file_exists("mail.txt")){
$fi=fopen("tmp/mail.txt","a");
fputs($fi,$user);
fclose($fi);
}
else{
$fi=fopen("tmp/mail.txt","w");
fputs($fi,$user);
fclose($fi);
}
?>

the results were:

Warning: fopen("tmp/mail.txt","w") - Permission denied in /local-path/scrivi.php on line 10

Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid File-Handle resource in /local-path/scrivi.php on line 11

Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid File-Handle resource in /local-path/scrivi.php on line 12

how can i solve this problem?

Anon

make sure you have access to read and write to the tmp/mail.txt file.

Anon

well,
i have an ftp connection with my apache server and i make my php files and upload them by a software like cuteftp.
i hope that writing and uploading a php file on my server, with the call of the function fopen, for writing on a file in the same directory or for creating it could have success.
But it didn't happen!

How can i create dynamically a file on my server so?
If i have a permission for create and upload a remotely a file, why i can't create one that modifies another dinamically?

thanks for attention

Anon

If you are running your PHP script through a webserver like apache,
the script is run with the access rights of the user that is used to run the webserver. This is usually a user named "www".
This user usually does not have access to write files in your home directory.

Anon

well
i want to create a form that recieve data
it send them to a php script:
i would like that this script create or append to a file these data

Note that even if i don't work on my server directly i have all access rights on it by my ftp connection...

i can' t understand if it's a problem of scripting ...

thanks Vincent

Anon

Nicola,

When you FTP you logon with a username.
This username has access to read and write the php files.

But, when you run PHP scripts with apache, the scripts are not run by you, but by a different user (the apache user).
This apache user does not have access to the files in your directory, so it can't write any files there.

Does your server support MySQL databases?

Anon

yes it does but i didn't buy the housing for a database yet.

that's because i'm trying to write files in my web space instead of accessing a database.. :-/

can i avoid accessing a relational database
and write files directly:
i thought it was possible....

Anon

Theoretically PHP can access file perfeclty.
But, your server has security that prevents other people from
writing files in your directory. The apache server is also seens as "another person" so it can't write.

If the database is not too expensive it is better to use a database.
It will make your life much easier.

Anon

ok thank u!
see u Vincent

Anon

Several things need attention here:

   if (file_exists("mail.txt"))
      {
      $fi=fopen("tmp/mail.txt","a");

(1) Note you're not talking about the same file in both calls. The first
asks whether 'mail.txt' exists in the current directory, whereas
the second opens a file in 'tmp' under the current directory.

(2) Do you really mean 'tmp' under the current directory, rather than
'/tmp'?

(3) The test itself is completely unnecessary: fopen(...,"a") will create
the file if it doesn't exist.

      $fi=fopen("tmp/mail.txt","a");
      fputs($fi,$user);

(4) This is very dangerous program design. Always check the return
value of fopen() to see if it succeeded or not.

(5) The underlying problem, once you've straightened out exactly which
directory you're wanting to create the file in, is that you (or, rather, the
user under which PHP runs (usually 'nobody' in the case of Apache, but
if it's a shared virtual server that might be different) doesn't have rights
to create files in that directory.

Anon

kirk is rigth.. and that first problem with permission.. why dont you simply upload a blanck file 'mail.txt' with your user, make sure that file has permission to anyone read and write... done...
it isnt secure.. but i thing that isnt your problem yet.. 🙂