Sams Teach Yourself PHP in 24 Hours, Third Edition

Opening a Database

You can open a DBM-like database with the function dba_open(). This function requires three arguments: the path to the database file, a string containing the flags with which you want to open the database, and a string representing the database manager you want to work with (the “Type” column in Table 12.1). dba_open() returns a DBA resource that you can then pass to other DBA functions to access or manipulate your database. Because dba_open() involves reading from and writing to files, PHP must have permission to write to the directory that will contain your database.

The flags you pass to dba_open() determine the way in which you can work with your database. They are listed in Table 12.2.

Table 12.2. Flags for Use with ...