Re: Delete last 15 chars from a file

Shaun wrote:

Hi, I am trying to create an XML file, it will be done in stages so if the file isn't present I will add the line: <?xml version="1.0" ?>

    <root_element>

Then for each line I add I add the following

        <child_element>data<child_element>

But for various reasons the application won't know when the file is complete so it won't have the final:

    </root_element>

To solve this I intend to add the following each time

        <child_element>data<child_element>
    </root_element>

and delete the </root_element> every time I add a new <child_element>data<child_element>. Can anyone tell me how I can delete the last 15 characters from a file every time I open the file? Thanks for your help first of all, why don't you simply do something like:

<?php $contents = file_get_contents('file'); $contents = str_replace('</root_element>', '', $contents); $contents .= "<child_element>data<child_element></root_element>"; file_put_contents('file', $contents); ?> But well, to strip off the last 15 chars, simply use substr(), thus: $contents = substr(file_get_contents('file'), 0, -15); that will return the entire file contents - the last 15 chars.