How can I copy a file content into a temporary file in PHP?

Question

I tried this:

$temp = tmpfile();
file_put_contents($temp,file_get_contents("$path/$filename"));

But I get this error: "Warning: file_put_contents() expects parameter 1 to be string,"

If I try:

echo file_get_contents("$path/$filename");

It return to screen the file content as a long string. Where am I wrong?

`tmpfile — Creates a temporary file` and returns a **file pointer** not a string — AeroX, May 13 '14 at 14:16
use `tempnam` instead of tmpfile, it returns the string filename instead of a resource. — scragar, May 13 '14 at 14:16

AeroX · Answer 1 · 2016-04-06T09:28:04.700

39

In the example you give you want tempnam() and not tmpfile().

tempnam() creates a temporary file and returns the path to it as a String. You can then pass that string into file_put_contents. You must remember to manually delete the temporary file once you are done with it.
tmpfile() creates a temporary file and returns a file resource/pointer to use with fwrite() and other file manipulation functions. In addition, once the script execution ends, the temporary file created by tmpfile() is automatically deleted.

Here is your example script using tempnam() instead of tmpfile():

$temp = tempnam(sys_get_temp_dir(), 'TMP_');

file_put_contents($temp, file_get_contents("$path/$filename"));

edited Apr 06 '16 at 09:28

answered May 13 '14 at 14:20

AeroX

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Attention! In case of the [tempnam()](http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.tempnam.php#refsect1-function.tempnam-changelog) you need to remove the file yourself in case you need it no more, as it is NOT done automatically. – alkaponey Feb 03 '16 at 16:41
1

@alkaponey Exactly, with a simple `unlink($temp);` you can remove the temporary file. – tomloprod Apr 25 '17 at 07:12
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`copy("$path/$filename", $temp)` would use less cpu and memory resources. – Rvanlaak Feb 28 '19 at 14:41

score 24 · Accepted Answer · answered May 13 '14 at 14:17

tmpfile() creates a temporary file with a unique name in read-write (w+) mode and returns a file handle to use with fwrite for example.

$temp = tmpfile();
fwrite($temp, file_get_contents("$path/$filename"));

The file is automatically removed when closed (for example, by calling fclose(), or when there are no remaining references to the file handle returned by tmpfile()), or when the script ends. look at php ref.

How can I copy a file content into a temporary file in PHP?

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