odd behavior

When I run this the first time, file.txt contains value of 30. Then I add 15 to it with following script and file now contains value of 45. I look at file.txt after write and it does indeed contain number 45. But when I run script 24 hours later via cron job, it still thinks file.txt is holding number 30. Is $file somehow retaining value of 30 and not getting new value of 45 when script runs second time? What is it called when this happens? <?php $file = file('/usr/home/xyz/file.txt'); //file.txt contains value of 30 $number = "15"; $newnumber = $file + $number; //$newnumber now is 45 $fp = fopen('/usr/home/xyz/file.txt','w'); fputs($fp,"$newnumber"); // write value 45 to file.txt fclose($fp); ?> Thanks Craig ><> westerman@chanuteks.com