CSV file reading and writing in PHP - Cheat Sheet & Quick Revision

Recall & Review

beginner

What PHP function is commonly used to read a CSV file line by line?

The fgetcsv() function reads a line from an open file and parses it as CSV, returning an array of fields.

beginner

How do you open a file for writing CSV data in PHP?

Use fopen() with the mode 'w' to open a file for writing. This will create the file if it doesn't exist or overwrite it if it does.

beginner

Which PHP function writes an array as a CSV line to a file?

The fputcsv() function takes an array and writes it as a CSV formatted line to an open file.

beginner

What is the purpose of closing a file after reading or writing CSV data?

Closing a file with fclose() frees system resources and ensures all data is properly saved and no corruption occurs.

intermediate

How can you handle CSV files with different delimiters in PHP?

Both fgetcsv() and fputcsv() accept an optional delimiter parameter to specify characters like semicolon ; instead of comma ,.

Which function reads a CSV line into an array in PHP?

A fgetcsv()

B fputcsv()

C fread()

D file_get_contents()

fgetcsv() reads a line from a file and parses it as CSV.

What mode should you use with fopen() to write a new CSV file?

A 'w'

B 'r'

C 'a'

D 'x'

'w' mode opens the file for writing and overwrites existing content.

Which function writes an array as a CSV line to a file?

A fwrite()

B fgetcsv()

C fputcsv()

D file_put_contents()

fputcsv() formats an array as CSV and writes it to a file.

Why should you always close a file after reading or writing CSV data?

A To delete the file

B To free system resources and save data properly

C To open it again automatically

D To convert it to JSON

Closing a file with fclose() ensures data integrity and frees resources.

How can you read a CSV file that uses semicolons instead of commas?

A Use <code>file_get_contents()</code> without changes

B Use <code>fread()</code> only

C Replace semicolons manually after reading

D Use <code>fgetcsv()</code> with the delimiter parameter set to ';'

fgetcsv() allows specifying a custom delimiter like ';' to parse CSV correctly.

Explain the steps to read a CSV file line by line in PHP and process each row.

Think about opening, reading, looping, and closing the file.

Describe how to write multiple rows of data to a CSV file in PHP.

Remember to open, write each row, then close.