What are some best practices for handling text files in PHP to ensure that important characters, such as spaces, are not inadvertently deleted?
When handling text files in PHP, it's important to use the correct file handling functions and modes to ensure that important characters, such as spaces, are not inadvertently deleted. One way to prevent this issue is to use the 'a+' mode when opening the file, which allows you to read and append to the file without truncating it. Additionally, always use functions like fwrite() to write to the file instead of functions like file_put_contents(), which can overwrite the file contents.
$file = fopen('example.txt', 'a+');
fwrite($file, "This is a new line with spaces.\n");
fclose($file);