Are there alternative methods to using explode() and if conditions to search for values in a text file in PHP?

When searching for values in a text file in PHP, an alternative method to using explode() and if conditions is to use regular expressions. Regular expressions provide more flexibility and power in searching for patterns within a text file. By using preg_match() or preg_match_all() functions along with regular expressions, you can efficiently search for specific values in a text file.

<?php
// Open the text file for reading
$file = fopen("data.txt", "r");

// Read the contents of the file
$data = fread($file, filesize("data.txt"));

// Define the pattern to search for
$pattern = '/\b(\d{3})\b/';

// Use preg_match_all() to find all occurrences of the pattern
if (preg_match_all($pattern, $data, $matches)) {
    // Output the matched values
    foreach ($matches[0] as $match) {
        echo $match . "\n";
    }
} else {
    echo "No matches found.";
}

// Close the file
fclose($file);
?>