I use the following syntax to secure my config.ini.php file:
;<?php
;die(); // For further security
;/*
[category]
name="value"
;*/
;?>
Works like a charm and is both: A valid PHP File and a valid ini-File ;)
(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)
parse_ini_file — Parse a configuration file
$filename
[, bool $process_sections = false
[, int $scanner_mode = INI_SCANNER_NORMAL
]] )
parse_ini_file() loads in the
ini file specified in filename,
and returns the settings in it in an associative array.
The structure of the ini file is the same as the php.ini's.
filenameThe filename of the ini file being parsed.
process_sections
By setting the process_sections
parameter to TRUE, you get a multidimensional array, with
the section names and settings included. The default
for process_sections is FALSE
scanner_mode
Can either be INI_SCANNER_NORMAL (default) or
INI_SCANNER_RAW. If INI_SCANNER_RAW
is supplied, then option values will not be parsed.
As of PHP 5.6.1 can also be specified as INI_SCANNER_TYPED.
In this mode boolean, null and integer types are preserved when possible.
String values "true", "on" and "yes"
are converted to TRUE. "false", "off", "no"
and "none" are considered FALSE. "null" is converted to NULL
in typed mode. Also, all numeric strings are converted to integer type if it is possible.
The settings are returned as an associative array on success,
and FALSE on failure.
| Version | Description |
|---|---|
| 7.0.0 | Hash marks (#) are no longer recognized as comments. |
| 5.6.1 |
Added new INI_SCANNER_TYPED mode.
|
| 5.3.0 |
Added optional scanner_mode parameter.
Single quotes may now be used around variable assignments.
Hash marks (#) should no longer be used as comments
and will throw a deprecation warning if used.
|
| 5.2.7 |
On syntax error this function will return FALSE rather than an empty
array.
|
| 5.2.4 | Keys and section names consisting of numbers are now evaluated as PHP integers thus numbers starting by 0 are evaluated as octals and numbers starting by 0x are evaluated as hexadecimals. |
| 5.0.0 | Values enclosed in double quotes can contain new lines. |
| 4.2.1 | This function is now affected by safe mode and open_basedir. |
Example #1 Contents of sample.ini
; This is a sample configuration file ; Comments start with ';', as in php.ini [first_section] one = 1 five = 5 animal = BIRD [second_section] path = "/usr/local/bin" URL = "http://www.example.com/~username" [third_section] phpversion[] = "5.0" phpversion[] = "5.1" phpversion[] = "5.2" phpversion[] = "5.3" urls[svn] = "http://svn.php.net" urls[git] = "http://git.php.net"
Example #2 parse_ini_file() example
Constants may also be parsed in the ini file so if you define a constant as an ini value before running parse_ini_file(), it will be integrated into the results. Only ini values are evaluated. For example:
<?php
define('BIRD', 'Dodo bird');
// Parse without sections
$ini_array = parse_ini_file("sample.ini");
print_r($ini_array);
// Parse with sections
$ini_array = parse_ini_file("sample.ini", true);
print_r($ini_array);
?>
The above example will output something similar to:
Array
(
[one] => 1
[five] => 5
[animal] => Dodo bird
[path] => /usr/local/bin
[URL] => http://www.example.com/~username
[phpversion] => Array
(
[0] => 5.0
[1] => 5.1
[2] => 5.2
[3] => 5.3
)
[urls] => Array
(
[svn] => http://svn.php.net
[git] => http://git.php.net
)
)
Array
(
[first_section] => Array
(
[one] => 1
[five] => 5
[animal] => Dodo bird
)
[second_section] => Array
(
[path] => /usr/local/bin
[URL] => http://www.example.com/~username
)
[third_section] => Array
(
[phpversion] => Array
(
[0] => 5.0
[1] => 5.1
[2] => 5.2
[3] => 5.3
)
[urls] => Array
(
[svn] => http://svn.php.net
[git] => http://git.php.net
)
)
)
Example #3 parse_ini_file() parsing a php.ini file
<?php
// A simple function used for comparing the results below
function yesno($expression)
{
return($expression ? 'Yes' : 'No');
}
// Get the path to php.ini using the php_ini_loaded_file()
// function available as of PHP 5.2.4
$ini_path = php_ini_loaded_file();
// Parse php.ini
$ini = parse_ini_file($ini_path);
// Print and compare the values, note that using get_cfg_var()
// will give the same results for parsed and loaded here
echo '(parsed) magic_quotes_gpc = ' . yesno($ini['magic_quotes_gpc']) . PHP_EOL;
echo '(loaded) magic_quotes_gpc = ' . yesno(get_cfg_var('magic_quotes_gpc')) . PHP_EOL;
?>
The above example will output something similar to:
(parsed) magic_quotes_gpc = Yes (loaded) magic_quotes_gpc = Yes
Note:
This function has nothing to do with the php.ini file. It is already processed by the time you run your script. This function can be used to read in your own application's configuration files.
Note:
If a value in the ini file contains any non-alphanumeric characters it needs to be enclosed in double-quotes (").
Note: There are reserved words which must not be used as keys for ini files. These include: null, yes, no, true, false, on, off, none. Values null, off, no and false result in "", and values on, yes and true result in "1", unless
INI_SCANNER_TYPEDmode is used (as of PHP 5.6.1). Characters ?{}|&~!()^" must not be used anywhere in the key and have a special meaning in the value.
Note:
Entries without an equal sign are ignored. For example, "foo" is ignored whereas "bar =" is parsed and added with an empty value. For example, MySQL has a "no-auto-rehash" setting in my.cnf that does not take a value, so it is ignored.
I use the following syntax to secure my config.ini.php file:
;<?php
;die(); // For further security
;/*
[category]
name="value"
;*/
;?>
Works like a charm and is both: A valid PHP File and a valid ini-File ;)
Here is a quick parse_ini_file wrapper to add extend support to save typing and redundancy.
<?php
/**
* Parses INI file adding extends functionality via ":base" postfix on namespace.
*
* @param string $filename
* @return array
*/
function parse_ini_file_extended($filename) {
$p_ini = parse_ini_file($filename, true);
$config = array();
foreach($p_ini as $namespace => $properties){
list($name, $extends) = explode(':', $namespace);
$name = trim($name);
$extends = trim($extends);
// create namespace if necessary
if(!isset($config[$name])) $config[$name] = array();
// inherit base namespace
if(isset($p_ini[$extends])){
foreach($p_ini[$extends] as $prop => $val)
$config[$name][$prop] = $val;
}
// overwrite / set current namespace values
foreach($properties as $prop => $val)
$config[$name][$prop] = $val;
}
return $config;
}
?>
Treats this ini:
<?php
/*
[base]
host=localhost
user=testuser
pass=testpass
database=default
[users:base]
database=users
[archive : base]
database=archive
*/
?>
As if it were like this:
<?php
/*
[base]
host=localhost
user=testuser
pass=testpass
database=default
[users:base]
host=localhost
user=testuser
pass=testpass
database=users
[archive : base]
host=localhost
user=testuser
pass=testpass
database=archive
*/
?>
And for the extra-paranoid like myself, add a rule into your httpd.conf file so that *.ini (or *.inc) in my case can't be sent to a browser:
<Files *.inc>
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
</Files>
Undocumented feature!
Using ${...} as a value will look to
1) an INI setting, or
2) an environment variable
For example,
<?php
print_r(parse_ini_string('
php_ext_dir = ${extension_dir}
operating_system = ${OS}
'));
?>
Array
(
[php_ext_dir] => ./ext/
[operating_system] => Windows_NT
)
Present in PHP 5.3.2, likely in 5.x, maybe even earlier too.
If your configuration file holds any sensitive information (such as database login details), remember NOT to place it within your document root folder! A common mistake is to replace config.inc.php files, which are formatted in PHP:
<?php
$database['host'] = 'localhost';
// etc...
?>
With config.ini files which are written in plain text:
[database]
host = localhost
The file config.ini can be read by anyone who knows where it's located, if it's under your document root folder. Remember to place it above!
To those who were like me looking if this could be used to create an array out of commandline output I offer you the function below (I used it to parse mplayer output).
If you want it behave exactly the same as parse_ini_file you'll obviously have to add some code to feed the different sections to this one. Hope it's of help to someone!
<?php
/**
* The return is very similar to that of parse_ini_file, but this works off files
*
* Below is an example of what it does, where the first
* value is what you'd normally want to do, and the second and third things that might
* happen and in case it does it's good to know what is going on.
*
* $anArray = array( 'default=theValue', 'setting=', 'something=value=value' );
* explodeExplode( '=', $anArray );
*
* the return will be
* array( 'default' => 'theValue', 'setting' => '', 'something' => 'value=value' );
*
* So the oddities here are, text after the second $string occurence dissapearing
* and empty values resulting in an empty string.
*
* @return $returnArray array array( 'setting' => 'value' )
* @param $string Object
* @param $array Object
*/
function explodeExplode( $string, $array )
{
$returnArray = array();
foreach( $array as $arrayValue )
{
$tmpArray = explode( $string, $arrayValue );
if( count( $tmpArray ) == 1 )
{
$returnArray[$tmpArray[0]] = '';
}
else if( count( $tmpArray ) == 2 )
{
$returnArray[$tmpArray[0]] = $tmpArray[1];
}
else if( count( $tmpArray ) > 2 )
{
$implodeBack = array();
$firstLoop = true;
foreach( $tmpArray as $tmpValue )
{
if( $firstLoop )
{
$firstLoop = false;
}
else
{
$implodeBack[] = $tmpValue;
}
}
print_r( $implodeBack );
$returnArray[$tmpArray[0]] = implode( '=', $implodeBack );
}
}
return $returnArray;
}
?>
You may want, in some very special cases, to parse multi-dimensional array with N levels in your ini file. Something like setting[data][config][debug] = true will result in an error (expected "=").
Here's a little function to match this, using dots (customizable).
<?php
function parse_ini_file_multi($file, $process_sections = false, $scanner_mode = INI_SCANNER_NORMAL) {
$explode_str = '.';
$escape_char = "'";
// load ini file the normal way
$data = parse_ini_file($file, $process_sections, $scanner_mode);
if (!$process_sections) {
$data = array($data);
}
foreach ($data as $section_key => $section) {
// loop inside the section
foreach ($section as $key => $value) {
if (strpos($key, $explode_str)) {
if (substr($key, 0, 1) !== $escape_char) {
// key has a dot. Explode on it, then parse each subkeys
// and set value at the right place thanks to references
$sub_keys = explode($explode_str, $key);
$subs =& $data[$section_key];
foreach ($sub_keys as $sub_key) {
if (!isset($subs[$sub_key])) {
$subs[$sub_key] = [];
}
$subs =& $subs[$sub_key];
}
// set the value at the right place
$subs = $value;
// unset the dotted key, we don't need it anymore
unset($data[$section_key][$key]);
}
// we have escaped the key, so we keep dots as they are
else {
$new_key = trim($key, $escape_char);
$data[$section_key][$new_key] = $value;
unset($data[$section_key][$key]);
}
}
}
}
if (!$process_sections) {
$data = $data[0];
}
return $data;
}
?>
The following file:
<?php
/*
[normal]
foo = bar
; use quotes to keep your key as it is
'foo.with.dots' = true
[array]
foo[] = 1
foo[] = 2
[dictionary]
foo[debug] = false
foo[path] = /some/path
[multi]
foo.data.config.debug = true
foo.data.password = 123456
*/
?>
will result in:
<?php
parse_ini_file_multi('file.ini', true);
Array
(
[normal] => Array
(
[foo] => bar
[foo.with.dots] => 1
)
[array] => Array
(
[foo] => Array
(
[0] => 1
[1] => 2
)
)
[dictionary] => Array
(
[foo] => Array
(
[debug] =>
[path] => /some/path
)
)
[multi] => Array
(
[foo] => Array
(
[data] => Array
(
[config] => Array
(
[debug] => 1
)
[password] => 123456
)
)
)
)
?>
As of PHP 5.3, you can escape a double quote like this:
description = "an \" example"
But strangely, this fails when you try to escape two consecutive double quotes:
description = "no \"\" good"
Unless there is something between them (in this example, there is a space character):
description = "this is \" \" ok"
Warning: parse_ini_files cannot cope with values containing the equal sign (=).
The following function supports sections, comments, arrays, and key-value pairs outside of any section.
Beware that similar keys will overwrite one another (unless in different sections).
<?php
function parse_ini ( $filepath ) {
$ini = file( $filepath );
if ( count( $ini ) == 0 ) { return array(); }
$sections = array();
$values = array();
$globals = array();
$i = 0;
foreach( $ini as $line ){
$line = trim( $line );
// Comments
if ( $line == '' || $line{0} == ';' ) { continue; }
// Sections
if ( $line{0} == '[' ) {
$sections[] = substr( $line, 1, -1 );
$i++;
continue;
}
// Key-value pair
list( $key, $value ) = explode( '=', $line, 2 );
$key = trim( $key );
$value = trim( $value );
if ( $i == 0 ) {
// Array values
if ( substr( $line, -1, 2 ) == '[]' ) {
$globals[ $key ][] = $value;
} else {
$globals[ $key ] = $value;
}
} else {
// Array values
if ( substr( $line, -1, 2 ) == '[]' ) {
$values[ $i - 1 ][ $key ][] = $value;
} else {
$values[ $i - 1 ][ $key ] = $value;
}
}
}
for( $j=0; $j<$i; $j++ ) {
$result[ $sections[ $j ] ] = $values[ $j ];
}
return $result + $globals;
}
?>
Example usage:
<?php
$stores = parse_ini('stores.ini');
print_r( $stores );
?>
An example ini file:
<?php
/*
;Commented line start with ';'
global_value1 = a string value
global_value1 = another string value
; empty lines are discarded
[Section1]
key = value
; whitespace around keys and values is discarded too
otherkey=other value
otherkey=yet another value
; this key-value pair will overwrite the former.
*/
?>
Somewhere between versions 5.2.5 and 5.3.24, the parsing of unquoted multiword values (e.g. values with embedded spaces) changed.
In 5.3.24, a multiword value where one of the words is a reserved word (null, yes, no, true, false, on, off, none) will cause the function to return an error.
Adding double quotation marks around the value string will solve the problem.
.ini files or JSON file format as it is also known as, are very useful format to store stuff in. Especially large arrays.
Strangely enough there is this nice function to read the file, but no function to write it.
So here is one.
Use it as: put_ini_file(string $file, array $array)
<?php
function put_ini_file($file, $array, $i = 0){
$str="";
foreach ($array as $k => $v){
if (is_array($v)){
$str.=str_repeat(" ",$i*2)."[$k]".PHP_EOL;
$str.=put_ini_file("",$v, $i+1);
}else
$str.=str_repeat(" ",$i*2)."$k = $v".PHP_EOL;
}
if($file)
return file_put_contents($file,$str);
else
return $str;
}
?>
a ini lexer with regexp:
<?php
@header('Content-Type: text/plain');
$myini = <<<EOT
[examples] ; this is a section
; this is a comment line
1 = intkey ; this is a int key
nullvalue = null ; this is NULL
truebool = true ; this is boolean (TRUE)
falsebool = false ; this is boolean (FALSE)
intvalue = -1 ; this is a integer (-1)
floatvalue = +1.4E-3 ; this is a float (0.0014)
stringvalue = Hello World ; this is a unquoted string
quoted = "Hello World" ; this is a quoted string
apostrophed = 'Hello World' ; this is a apostrophed string
quoted escaped = "it work's \"fine\"!" ; this is a quoted string with escaped quotes
apostrophed escaped = 'it work\'s "fine"!' ; this is a apostrophed string with escaped apostrophes
[[valid special cases]] ; this is a section with square brackets and whitespaces at the beginning
quoted multiline = "line1
line2
line3" ; this is a quoted multiline string
apostrophed multiline = "line1
line2
line3" ; this is a apostrophed multiline string
spaces before key = is ok ; this line has whitespaces at the beginning
no val = ; this setting has no key
= no key ; this setting has no value
= ; this setting has no key and no value
[bad cases] ; you should never do that but it works
notgood = unquoted"string ; this value has a single quote
notgood2 = unapostrophed'string ; this value has a single apostrophe
bad = "unclosed quotes ; this value has unclosed quotes
bad2 = 'unclosed apostrophes ; this value has unclosed apostrophes
[invalid
section]
invalid setting
EOT;
function get_tokens_from_ini_lexer($data, $verbose = FALSE)
{
$regexp = '/
(?<=^|\r\n|\r|\n)
(?P<line>
(?:
(?(?![\t\x20]*;)
(?P<left_space>[\t\x20]*)
(?:
\[(?P<section>[^;\r\n]+)\]
|
(?P<setting>
(?P<key>
[^=;\r\n]+?
)?
(?P<left_equal_space>[\t\x20]*)
(?P<equal_sign>=)
(?P<right_equal_space>[\t\x20]*)
(?P<val>
\x22(?P<quoted>.*?)(?<!\x5C)\x22
|
\x27(?P<apostrophed>.*?)(?<!\x5C)\x27
|
(?P<null>null)
|
(?P<bool>true|false)
|
(?P<int>[+-]?(?:[1-9]\d{0,18}|0))
|
(?P<float>(?:[+-]?(?:[1-9]\d*|0))\.\d+(?:E[+-]\d+)?)
|
(?P<string>[^;\r\n]+?)
)?
)
)
)
(?P<right_space>[\t\x20]*)
(?:
(?P<comment_seperator>;)
(?P<comment_space>[\t\x20]*)
(?P<comment>[^\r\n]+?)?
)?
)
|
(?P<error>
[^\r\n]+?
)
)
(?=\r\n|\r|\n|$)(?P<crlf>\r\n|\r|\n)?
|
(?<=\r\n|\r|\n)(?P<emptyline>\r\n|\r|\n)
/xsi';
if(!@is_int(preg_match_all($regexp, $data, $tokens, PREG_SET_ORDER)))
{
// parse error
}
else
{
foreach($tokens as $i => $token)
{
if(!$verbose)
{
unset($tokens[$i]['line']);
unset($tokens[$i]['crlf']);
unset($tokens[$i]['setting']);
unset($tokens[$i]['equal_sign']);
unset($tokens[$i]['val']);
unset($tokens[$i]['left_space']);
unset($tokens[$i]['left_equal_space']);
unset($tokens[$i]['right_equal_space']);
unset($tokens[$i]['right_space']);
unset($tokens[$i]['comment_seperator']);
unset($tokens[$i]['comment_space']);
};
foreach($token as $key => $val)
{
if(!@is_string($key) || !@strlen($val))
{
unset($tokens[$i][$key]);
};
};
};
return($tokens);
};
};
$verbose = FALSE;
print_r(get_tokens_from_ini_lexer($myini, $verbose));
?>
Arrays can be defined in the ini file by adding '[]' at the end of a key name. For example:
value1 = 17
value2 = 13
value3[] = a
value3[] = b
value3[] = c
Will return:
Array
(
[value1] => 17
[value2] => 13
[value3] => Array
(
[0] => a
[1] => b
[2] => c
)
)
As quick an dirty way to gain the security of that *.ini.php-files you may alternatively use this as first line:
; <?php exit(); __halt_compiler();
// the closing tag is just to end up the syntax highlighting ...
// leave these comments and the closing tag away in your ini.php-file!
?>
You can use parse_ini_file() in the normal way and any criminal stranger will only see a ";" then ...
Set an simple ini file to defined constants
$config = parse_ini_file('main.ini');
foreach($config as $key => $value) {
define($key, $value);
}
Working on a project for a client recently, I needed a way to set a default configuration INI file, but also wanted to allow the client to override the settings through the use of a custom INI file.
I thought array_merge or array_merge_recursive would do the trick for me, but it fails to override settings in the way that I wanted. I wrote my own function to do what I wanted. It's nothing spectacular, but thought I'd post it here in case it saved someone else some time.
<?php
function ini_merge ($config_ini, $custom_ini) {
foreach ($custom_ini AS $k => $v):
if (is_array($v)):
$config_ini[$k] = ini_merge($config_ini[$k], $custom_ini[$k]);
else:
$config_ini[$k] = $v;
endif;
endforeach;
return $config_ini;
};
$CONFIG_INI = parse_ini_file('../config.ini', TRUE);
$CUSTOM_INI = parse_ini_file('ini/custom.ini', TRUE);
$INI = ini_merge($CONFIG_INI, $CUSTOM_INI);
?>
This allowed me to put the default INI file above the web root with information that requires extra security (database connection info, etc.) and a writable INI file within the structure of the site without affecting the default settings of the default config.ini file.
Anyway, hope it helps.
I have recently finished an implementacion of a multiple configuration type class.
<?php
class Configuration {
const AUTO = 0;
const JSON = 2;
const PHP_INI = 4;
const XML = 16;
static private $CONF_EXT_RELATION = array(
'json' => 2, // JSON
'ini' => 4, // PHP_INI
'xml' => 16 // XML
);
static private $instances;
private $data;
static public function objectToArray($obj) {
$arr = (is_object($obj))?
get_object_vars($obj) :
$obj;
foreach ($arr as $key => $val) {
$arr[$key] = ((is_array($val)) || (is_object($val)))?
self::objectToArray($val) :
$val;
}
return $arr;
}
private function __construct($file, $type = Configuration::AUTO) {
if ($type == self::AUTO) {
$type = self::$CONF_EXT_RELATION[pathinfo($file, PATHINFO_EXTENSION)];
}
switch($type) {
case self::JSON:
$this->data = json_decode(file_get_contents($file), true);
break;
case self::PHP_INI:
$this->data = parse_ini_file($file, true);
break;
case self::XML:
$this->data = self::objectToArray(simplexml_load_file($file));
break;
}
}
static public function & getInstance($file, $type = Configuration::AUTO) {
if(! isset(self::$instances[$file])) {
self::$instances[$file] = new Configuration($file, $type);
}
return self::$instances[$file];
}
public function __get($section) {
if ((is_array($this->data)) &&
(array_key_exists($section, $this->data))) {
return $this->data[$section];
}
}
public function getAvailableSections() {
return array_keys($this->data);
}
}
$configuration = Configuration::getInstance(/*configuration filename*/);
foreach($configuration->getAvailableSections() as $pos => $sectionName) {
var_dump($sectionName);
var_dump($configuration->{$sectionName});
}
?>
Instead of using parse_ini_file() function I would recommend to use PEAR's Config package which is MUCH more flexible (assuming that you don't mind using PEAR and OOP). Have a closer look at http://pear.php.net/package/Config
Looks like in PHP 5.3.0 special characters like \n are extrapolated into real newlines. Gotta use \\n.
Be careful if you put any .ini file in your readable directories, if somebody would know the name (e.g. if your application is widely used), the webserver might return it as plain text.
For example : your database username and password could be exposed, if it is stored in that file !
To prevent this from happening :
- give the file .php extension : "my.ini.php"
- put ';<?php' (without quotes and without X between X and php) on first line
- put ';?>' on last line
The server would run the ini file as being PHP-code, but will do nothing due to bad syntax, preventing the content from being exosed.
On the other hand, it is still a valid .ini file...
HTH !
class.parseini.php
<?php
##By juan pablo tosso
class Parser
{
public function printini($file, $sector, $var)
{
$file=$file.".ini";
$is=array();
$is= parse_ini_file($file, true);
trim($is);
if(is_array($is) && file_exists($file))
{
return $is[$sector][$var];
}else{
return "error";
}
}
}
?>
Ini.ini:
[test]
foo=bar
[test2]
foo1=bar1
foo2=bar2
foo bar=something else
just in another file write:
include("class.parseini.php");
$new= new Parser();
echo $new->printini("ini", "test2", "foo1");
If you are looking for an OOP way to parse ini files, take a look at Marcus Boerger's IniGroups class available here :
http://www.php.net/~helly/php/ext/spl/classIniGroups.html
Not mentioned in docs about constants but 'magic' constants do NOT work. So for example:
// __DIR__ = /my/web/site/app
log_file = __DIR__"/app.log"
Gives you just "__DIR__/app.log" with NO replacement.
Make sense it should NOT work as there would be question if it should be set to path of PHP file making the call or the path of the 'ini' file. Though the last might be useful the first generally would NOT be if you parse the file several different places in your code etc.
Tested in PHP 5.4.26
#If you want to replace a Setting in the ini, use this code:
/// bool SetCMSSettings(string $Setting, string $replace, string $INI_PATH)
/// $Setting = The Setting, which you want to replace
/// $replace = the new value
public function SetCMSSettings($Setting, $replace, $INI_PATH)
{
$ini = fopen($INI_PATH,"w+");
$i = 0;
while($Content = fgets($ini))
{
if(preg_match("/".$Setting."/", $Content)) {
fwrite($ini, $Setting."=".$replace);
$i = 1;
} else {
fwrite($ini, $Content);
}
}
// If, the setting wasnt replaced.
if($i == 0) {
fwrite($ini, $Setting."=".$replace);
}
fclose($ini);
}
Tip: you cannot parse an ini-file with this safer structure:
<?php exit();
$data="
[section_one]
test = abc
[section_two]
and_so=on
";
?>
(strangers are not able to see this file because php closed the file previously by executing exit();)
But here is a very simple code to prevent this:
<?php
class iniParser{
private $IniFile;
private $SafeFile;
private $ParseClasses;
public $KeysWithoutSections;
public $KeysWithSections;
public function __construct($FileName, $SafeFile = false){
$this->IniFile = $FileName;
$this->SafeFile = $SafeFile;
}
public function parseIni($SaveInClass = true){
$FileHandle = file($this->IniFile);
$CountLines = count($FileHandle);
$Counter = 0;
$NKeys = "";
if ( $this->SafeFile ){
$Counter += 2;
$CountLines -= 2;
}
while ( $Counter < $CountLines ){
$CurLine = $FileHandle[$Counter];
$CurLineSplit = explode("=", $CurLine);
$CurKey = $CurLineSplit[0];
$CurValue = $CurLineSplit[1];
if( $SaveInClass )
$this->Keys[trim($CurKey)] = trim($CurValue);
else
$NKeys[trim($CurKey)] = trim($CurValue);
$Counter++;
}
if( $SaveInClass )
return $this->KeysWithoutSections;
else
return $NKeys;
}
public function parseIniWithSections($SaveInClass = true){
$FileHandle = file($this->IniFile);
$CountLines = count($FileHandle);
$Counter = 0;
$LastSection = "";
$NKeys = "";
if ( $this->SafeFile ){
$CountLines -= 2;
$Counter += 2;
}
while ( $Counter < $CountLines ){
$CurLine = $FileHandle[$Counter];
if ( strpos($CurLine, "[") == 1 ){
$LastSection = $CurLine;
continue;
}
$Explosion = explode("=", $CurLine);
$CurKey = trim($Explosion[0]);
$CurValue = trim($Explosion[1]);
if ( $SaveInClass )
$this->KeysWithSections[$LastSection][$CurKey] = $CurValue;
else
$NKeys[$LastSection][$CurKey] = $CurValue;
}
if ( $SaveInClass )
return $this->KeysWithSections;
else
return $NKeys;
}
};
?>
To use this class just try this script here:
<?php
include "iniparser.php" // class above
$SafeIniParser = new iniParser("test.php", true); // file: test.php, safefile.
$Keys = $SafeIniParser->parseIniWithSections(false);
echo $Keys["section_one"]["test"];
?>
i used this file:
<?php exit();
$data="
[section_one]
test = abc
[section_two]
and_so=on
";
?>
parse_ini_file can't deal with const which cancate a string. For example, if test.ini file is
classPath = ROOT/lib
If you:
<?php
define('ROOT', dirname(__FILE__));
$buf = parse_ini_file('test.ini');
?>
const ROOT would't be parsed.
But my version could work find.
<?php
// array parse_ini_file ( string $filename [, bool $process_sections] )
function parse_ini($filename, $process_sections = false)
{
function replace_process(& $item, $key, $consts)
{
$item = str_replace(array_keys($consts), array_values($consts), $item);
}
$buf = get_defined_constants(true); // PHP version > 5.0
$consts = $buf['user'];
$ini = parse_ini_file($filename, $process_sections);
array_walk_recursive($ini, 'replace_process', $consts);
return $ini;
}
define('ROOT', '/test');
print_r(parse_ini(dirname(__FILE__).'/test.ini'));
?>
This is a simple (but slightly hackish) way of avoiding the character limitations (in values):
<?php
define('QUOTE', '"');
$test = parse_ini_file('test.ini');
echo "<pre>";
print_r($test);
?>
contents of test.ini:
park yesterday = "I (walked) | {to} " QUOTE"the"QUOTE " park yesterday & saw ~three~ dogs!"
output:
<?php
Array
(
[park yesterday] => I (walked) | {to} "the" park yesterday & saw ~three~ dogs!
)
?>
This function won't work if you try to parse a file with an extension which is not ".ini". It won't work if your filename is config.cfg, for instance. In this case, it will return array(0)
Didn`t find the one,which suits my needs,so Here`s a small and easy write ini from array function... Maybe you`ll find it handy.
<?php
function write_php_ini($array, $file)
{
$res = array();
foreach($array as $key => $val)
{
if(is_array($val))
{
$res[] = "[$key]";
foreach($val as $skey => $sval) $res[] = "$skey = ".(is_numeric($sval) ? $sval : '"'.$sval.'"');
}
else $res[] = "$key = ".(is_numeric($val) ? $val : '"'.$val.'"');
}
safefilerewrite($file, implode("\r\n", $res));
}
//////
function safefilerewrite($fileName, $dataToSave)
{ if ($fp = fopen($fileName, 'w'))
{
$startTime = microtime();
do
{ $canWrite = flock($fp, LOCK_EX);
// If lock not obtained sleep for 0 - 100 milliseconds, to avoid collision and CPU load
if(!$canWrite) usleep(round(rand(0, 100)*1000));
} while ((!$canWrite)and((microtime()-$startTime) < 1000));
//file was locked so now we can store information
if ($canWrite)
{ fwrite($fp, $dataToSave);
flock($fp, LOCK_UN);
}
fclose($fp);
}
}
?>
I didn't find a simple ini class so I wrote that class to read and write ini files.
I hope it could help you.
Read file : $ini = INI::read('myfile.ini');
Write file : INI::write('myfile.ini', $ini);
Features :
- support [] syntax for arrays
- support . in keys like bar.foo.something = value
- true and false string are automatically converted in booleans
- integers strings are automatically converted in integers
- keys are sorted when writing
- constants are replaced but they should be written in the ini file between braces : {MYCONSTANT}
<?php
class INI {
/**
* WRITE
*/
static function write($filename, $ini) {
$string = '';
foreach(array_keys($ini) as $key) {
$string .= '['.$key."]\n";
$string .= INI::write_get_string($ini[$key], '')."\n";
}
file_put_contents($filename, $string);
}
/**
* write get string
*/
static function write_get_string(& $ini, $prefix) {
$string = '';
ksort($ini);
foreach($ini as $key => $val) {
if (is_array($val)) {
$string .= INI::write_get_string($ini[$key], $prefix.$key.'.');
} else {
$string .= $prefix.$key.' = '.str_replace("\n", "\\\n", INI::set_value($val))."\n";
}
}
return $string;
}
/**
* manage keys
*/
static function set_value($val) {
if ($val === true) { return 'true'; }
else if ($val === false) { return 'false'; }
return $val;
}
/**
* READ
*/
static function read($filename) {
$ini = array();
$lines = file($filename);
$section = 'default';
$multi = '';
foreach($lines as $line) {
if (substr($line, 0, 1) !== ';') {
$line = str_replace("\r", "", str_replace("\n", "", $line));
if (preg_match('/^\[(.*)\]/', $line, $m)) {
$section = $m[1];
} else if ($multi === '' && preg_match('/^([a-z0-9_.\[\]-]+)\s*=\s*(.*)$/i', $line, $m)) {
$key = $m[1];
$val = $m[2];
if (substr($val, -1) !== "\\") {
$val = trim($val);
INI::manage_keys($ini[$section], $key, $val);
$multi = '';
} else {
$multi = substr($val, 0, -1)."\n";
}
} else if ($multi !== '') {
if (substr($line, -1) === "\\") {
$multi .= substr($line, 0, -1)."\n";
} else {
INI::manage_keys($ini[$section], $key, $multi.$line);
$multi = '';
}
}
}
}
$buf = get_defined_constants(true);
$consts = array();
foreach($buf['user'] as $key => $val) {
$consts['{'.$key.'}'] = $val;
}
array_walk_recursive($ini, array('INI', 'replace_consts'), $consts);
return $ini;
}
/**
* manage keys
*/
static function get_value($val) {
if (preg_match('/^-?[0-9]$/i', $val)) { return intval($val); }
else if (strtolower($val) === 'true') { return true; }
else if (strtolower($val) === 'false') { return false; }
else if (preg_match('/^"(.*)"$/i', $val, $m)) { return $m[1]; }
else if (preg_match('/^\'(.*)\'$/i', $val, $m)) { return $m[1]; }
return $val;
}
/**
* manage keys
*/
static function get_key($val) {
if (preg_match('/^[0-9]$/i', $val)) { return intval($val); }
return $val;
}
/**
* manage keys
*/
static function manage_keys(& $ini, $key, $val) {
if (preg_match('/^([a-z0-9_-]+)\.(.*)$/i', $key, $m)) {
INI::manage_keys($ini[$m[1]], $m[2], $val);
} else if (preg_match('/^([a-z0-9_-]+)\[(.*)\]$/i', $key, $m)) {
if ($m[2] !== '') {
$ini[$m[1]][INI::get_key($m[2])] = INI::get_value($val);
} else {
$ini[$m[1]][] = INI::get_value($val);
}
} else {
$ini[INI::get_key($key)] = INI::get_value($val);
}
}
/**
* replace utility
*/
static function replace_consts(& $item, $key, $consts) {
if (is_string($item)) {
$item = strtr($item, $consts);
}
}
}
?>
This combo works best for me.
<?php
$inifile = "config.php";
$inivalue = get_parse_ini($inifile);
print_r($inivalue);
$inivalue['config']['length']=6;
put_ini_file("config.php", $inivalue, $i = 0);
function get_parse_ini($file)
{
// if cannot open file, return false
if (!is_file($file))
return false;
$ini = file($file);
// to hold the categories, and within them the entries
$cats = array();
foreach ($ini as $i) {
if (@preg_match('/\[(.+)\]/', $i, $matches)) {
$last = $matches[1];
} elseif (@preg_match('/(.+)=(.+)/', $i, $matches)) {
$cats[$last][trim($matches[1])] = trim($matches[2]);
}
}
return $cats;
}
function put_ini_file($file, $array, $i = 0){
$str="";
foreach ($array as $k => $v){
if (is_array($v)){
$str.=str_repeat(" ",$i*2)."[$k]\r\n";
$str.=put_ini_file("",$v, $i+1);
}else
$str.=str_repeat(" ",$i*2)."$k = $v\r\n";
}
$phpstr = "<?PHP\r\n/*\r\n".$str."*/\r\n?>";
if($file)
return file_put_contents($file,$phpstr);
else
return $str;
}
?>
here is the config.php file
<?php
/*
;Commented line start with ';'
[config]
admin = root
pass = pass
email = social@facebook.com
length = 4
block = 4
seperation = -
*/
?>
Test it out yourself
The documentation states:
Characters ?{}|&~!()^" must not be used anywhere in the key and have a special meaning in the value.
Here's the results of my experiments on what they mean:
; | is used for bitwise OR
three = 2|3
; & is used for bitwise AND
four = 6&5
; ^ is used for bitwise XOR
five = 3^6
; ~ is used for bitwise negate
negative_two = ~1
; () is used for grouping
seven = (8|7)&(6|5)
; ${...} is used for grabbing values from the environment, or previously defined values.
path = ${PATH}
also = ${five}
; ? I have no guess for
; ! I have no guess for
This core function won't handle ini key[][] = value(s), (multidimensional arrays), so if you need to support that kind of setup you will need to write your own function. one way to do it is to convert all the key = value(s) to array string [key][][]=value(s), then use parse_str() to convert all those [key][][]=value(s) that way you just read the ini file line by line, instead of doing crazy foreach() loops to handle those (multidimensional arrays) in each section, example...
ini file...... config.php
<?php
; This is a sample configuration file
; Comments start with ';', as in php.ini
[first_section]
one = 1
five = 5
animal = BIRD
[second_section]
path = "/usr/local/bin"
URL = "http://www.example.com/~username"
[third_section]
phpversion[] = "5.0"
phpversion[] = "5.1"
phpversion[] = "5.2"
phpversion[] = "5.3"
urls[svn] = "http://svn.php.net"
urls[git] = "http://git.php.net"
[fourth_section]
a[][][] = b
a[][][][] = c
a[test_test][][] = d
test[one][two][three] = true
?>
echo parse_ini_file ( "C:\\services\\www\\docs\\config.php" );
results in...
// PHP Warning: syntax error, unexpected TC_SECTION, expecting '=' line 27 -> a[][][] = b
Here it simple function that handles (multidimensional arrays) without looping each key[][]= value(s)
<?php
function getIni ( $file, $sections = FALSE )
{
$return = array ();
$keeper = array ();
$config = fopen ( $file, 'r' );
while ( ! feof ( $config ) )
{
$line = trim ( fgets ( $config, 1024 ) );
$line = ( $line == '' ) ? ' ' : $line;
switch ( $line{0} )
{
case ' ':
case '#':
case '/':
case ';':
case '<':
case '?':
break;
case '[':
if ( $sections )
{
$header = 'config[' . trim ( substr ( $line, 1, -1 ) ) . ']';
}
else
{
$header = 'config';
}
break;
default:
$kv = array_map ( 'trim', explode ( '=', $line ) );
$kv[0] = str_replace ( ' ', '+', $kv[0] );
$kv[1] = str_replace ( ' ', '+', $kv[1] );
if ( ( $pos = strpos ( $kv[0], '[' ) ) !== FALSE )
{
$kv[0] = '[' . substr ( $kv[0], 0, $pos ) . ']' . substr ( $kv[0], $pos );
}
else
{
$kv[0] = '[' . $kv[0] . ']';
}
$bt = strtolower ( $kv[1] );
if ( in_array ( $bt, array ( 'true', 'false', 'on', 'off' ) ) )
{
$kv[1] = ( $bt == 'true' || $bt == 'on' ) ? TRUE : FALSE;
}
$keeper[] = $header . $kv[0] . '=' . $kv[1];
}
}
fclose ( $config );
parse_str ( implode ( '&', $keeper ), $return );
return $return['config'];
}
// usage...
$sections = TRUE;
print_r ( $config->getIni ( "C:\\services\\www\\docs\\config.php" ), $sections );
?>
hope I'm not doing anything wrong, but it seems that the array notation doesn't work in PHP 4:
processing
phpversion[] = "5.0"
phpversion[] = "5.1"
phpversion[] = "5.2"
phpversion[] = "5.3"
gives
[phpversion[]] => 5.3
instead of
[phpversion] => Array
(
[0] => 5.0
[1] => 5.1
[2] => 5.2
[3] => 5.3
)
Make sure you use double-quotes when using spaces in a value as of 5.3.
Consider the following INI file:
key = tested on php5
with the following code:
$res = parse_ini_file('myini.ini');
var_dump($res);
In 5.2, this will give you:
array(1) {
["key"]=>
string(14) "tested on php5"
}
In 5.3, this will give you:
Warning: syntax error, unexpected BOOL_TRUE in Unknown on line 1 in test.php on line 3
bool(false)
This is because the 'on' word is a reserved keyword for boolean TRUE. The documentation now states that a string that contains any non-alphanumeric character should be enclosed in double-quotes (a space is not alphanumeric).
Constants in ini files are not expanded if they are concatenated with strings quoted with single quotes, they must be in double quotes only to make constants expanded.
Example:
define ('APP_PATH', '/some/path');
mypath = APP_PATH '/config'
// Constant won't be expanded: [mypath] => APP_PATH '/config'
mypath = APP_PATH "/config"
// Constant will be expanded: [mypath] => /some/path/config
Note "." between constant and following string is not used.
Since Zend_Config_Ini is built on parse_ini_file, it inherits this behaviour.
I found that this function will not work on remote files.
I tried
$someArray = parse_ini_file("http://www.example.com/setting.ini");
and it reports
Cannot Open 'http://www.example.com/setting.ini' for reading ...
A number of posts mention using pear::Config as a replacement for this function. Note however that internally it uses parse_ini_file to read the ini file, so it suffers from the same limitations.
Beside the mentioned reserved words 'null', 'yes', 'no', 'true', and 'false', also 'none' seems to be a reserved word. Parsing an ini file stops at a key named 'none'.
Just a quick note for all those running into trouble escaping double quotes:
I got around this by "base64_encode()"-ing my content on the way in to the ini file, and "base64_decode()"-ing on the way out.
Because base64 uses the "=" sign, you will have to encapsulate the entire value in double quotes so the line looks like this:
varname = "TmlhZ2FyYSBGYWxscywgT04="
When base64'd, your strings will retain all \n, \t...etc... URL's retain everything perfectly :-)
I hope some of you find this useful!
Cheers, Kieran
Besides the features mentioned above (eg. core constants, booleans), you can also access user-defined constants in ini files! This is handy if you want to create a bit-field, for example:
<?php
// Define pizza toppings
define('PIZZA_HAM', 1);
define('PIZZA_PINEAPPLE', 2);
define('PIZZA_ONION', 4);
define('PIZZA_MOZARELLA', 8);
define('PIZZA_GARLIC', 16);
// Read predefined pizzas
$pizzas = parse_ini_file('pizzas.ini');
if ($pizzas[$user_pizza] & PIZZA_ONION) {
// Add onions to the pizza
}
?>
[pizzas]
; Define pizzas
hawaii = PIZZA_HAM | PIZZA_PINEAPPLE
stinky = PIZZA_ONION | PIZZA_GARLIC
Please note that despite the changelog telling nothing about it, the parse_ini_file() changed
-> the way it interprets the simple quote (not accepted on my 5.1 php)
-> array index. PHP 5.3 accepts the following but not php 5.1
[section]
param["index"]='value'
param["other index"]='other value'
Even better than putting the <?php at the head of the file is to do something like this:
--config.ini.php--
; <?php die( 'Please do not access this page directly.' ); ?>
; This is the settings page, do not modify the above line.
setting = value
...
or to prevent the file being viewed you can just use a .htaccess file and add this line
<files *.ini>
order deny,allow
deny from all
</files>
i use a similar thing to prevent my config files being accessed
I made a small test to check differencies between parse_ini_file and json_decode and I surprised a little bit.
Here are my test files...
parseini-test.ini:
[global]
a = 1
b = 2
c = "Lorem Ipsum"
d = "Dolor Sit Amet"
e = 3.14
jsondecode-test.json:
{
"a": 1,
"b": 2,
"c": "Lorem Ipsum",
"d": "Dolor Sit Amet",
"e": 3.14
}
And source codes are...
parseini.php:
<?php
$s = microtime(TRUE);
for ($i=0; $i<100000; $i++)
{
$a = parse_ini_file('./parseini-test.ini');
unset($a);
}
$e = microtime(TRUE);
echo $e-$s;
?>
jsondecode.php:
<?php
$s = microtime(TRUE);
for ($i=0; $i<100000; $i++)
{
$a = json_decode(file_get_contents('./jsondecode-test.json'), TRUE);
unset($a);
}
$e = microtime(TRUE);
echo $e-$s;
?>
These tests ran for three times (the third result is near to average in my experiences):
- parseini.php: 3.24759721756
- jsondecode.php: 3.289290905
My conclusion:
I`m going to use the json_decode() for reading config files because no significant difference in running time between parse_ini_file() and json_decode() + file_get_contents() but JSON is a more powerful format for storing well typed (parse_ini_file parses 3.14 as string, json_decode as float) and well structured configuration settings. As a note: json_decode is sensitive for associative keys` quotation, use quotes at all time in keys` names.
Test ran on PHP 5.2.
I'm not sure why, but for some reason php's ini functions always leave out entries for me.
To solve this problem, I wrote my own ini parsing function, intended to be a replacement for parse_ini_file('file.ini', true);
<?php
function new_parse_ini($f)
{
// if cannot open file, return false
if (!is_file($f))
return false;
$ini = file($f);
// to hold the categories, and within them the entries
$cats = array();
foreach ($ini as $i) {
if (@preg_match('/\[(.+)\]/', $i, $matches)) {
$last = $matches[1];
} elseif (@preg_match('/(.+)=(.+)/', $i, $matches)) {
$cats[$last][$matches[1]] = $matches[2];
}
}
return $cats;
}
?>
The usage follows the Example #2 on http://us3.php.net/manual/en/function.parse-ini-file.php , except without the second parameter being 'true'.
When PHP dies without any warning or message when parsing the ini-file, check the values of the file. All non alphanumeric values need to be quoted.
Class to access ini values at format "section_name.property", for example $myconf->get("system.name") returns a property "name" in section "system":
<?php
class Settings {
var $properties = array();
function Settings() {
$this->properties = parse_ini_file(_SETTINGS_FILE, true);
}
function get($name) {
if(strpos($name, ".")) {
list($section_name, $property) = explode(".", $name);
$section =& $this->properties[$section_name];
$name = $property;
} else {
$section =& $properties;
}
if(is_array($section) && isset($section[$name])) {
return $section[$name];
}
return false;
}
}
?>
Here is another way to group values in the ini:
my.ini:
[singles]
test = a test
test2 = another test
test3 = this is a test too
[multiples]
tests[] = a test
tests[] = another test
tests[] = this is a test too
my.php:
<?php $init = parse_ini_file('my.ini'); ?>
The same as:
<?php
$init['test'] = 'a test';
$init['test2'] = 'another test';
$init['test3'] = 'this is a test too';
$init['tests'][0] = 'a test';
$init['tests'][1] = 'another test';
$init['tests'][2] = 'this is a test too';
?>
This works with the bool set to true also, can be useful with loops. Works with the bool set to true as well.
I found another pitfall to watch out for. The key (to the left of the equal sign) can't be the same as one of the predefined values, like yes, no, on, off, etc. I was working on a script that read in an ini file that matched the country codes of top level domains to the full name of the country. I kept getting a parse error everytime it got to the entry for Norway ("no"). I fixed the problem by sticking a dot in front of each of the country codes.
I handy function to allow values with new lines if you are PHP4, is the following:
<?php
function prepareIniNl($string) {
return preg_replace("/(\r\n|\n|\r)/", "\\n", $string);
}
?>
Now, when writing your INI file, parse the value through the function and it will turn for example:
Value line 1
Value line 2
Into literally:
Value line 1\nValue line 2
Which is stored as a single line in the INI file. And when you read the INI file back into PHP, the \n will be parsed and you're value will be back to:
Value line 1
Value line 2
I wrote a replacement function with following changes:
-It allows quotes and double quotes.
-It detects wether your .ini file has sections or not.
-It will read until eof in any case, even if a line contains errors.
I know it can be improved a lot, so feel free to work on it and, please, notify me if you do.
<?php
function parse_ini_file_quotes_safe($f)
{
$r=$null;
$sec=$null;
$f=@file($f);
for ($i=0;$i<@count($f);$i++)
{
$newsec=0;
$w=@trim($f[$i]);
if ($w)
{
if ((!$r) or ($sec))
{
if ((@substr($w,0,1)=="[") and (@substr($w,-1,1))=="]") {$sec=@substr($w,1,@strlen($w)-2);$newsec=1;}
}
if (!$newsec)
{
$w=@explode("=",$w);$k=@trim($w[0]);unset($w[0]); $v=@trim(@implode("=",$w));
if ((@substr($v,0,1)=="\"") and (@substr($v,-1,1)=="\"")) {$v=@substr($v,1,@strlen($v)-2);}
if ($sec) {$r[$sec][$k]=$v;} else {$r[$k]=$v;}
}
}
}
return $r;
}
?>
I wrote few functions to work with ini files.
The function make_ini_file($array, &$errors)
The function read_ini($file)
The function prepare_ini($array, $maxdepth=NULL)
The function prepare_ini($array, $maxdepth=NULL)
This function will take an array as returned by the function read_ini() and will return an array as needed by the function make_ini_file() so that you can write extanded ini files easily.
If maxdepth is not given (or if maxdepth is NULL), this function will try to create sections so the keys in the sections do not have dots. if maxdepth is given, it will create sections with $maxdepth members in them (or less if it is not possible). It won't use the special key name "."
<?php
function prepare_ini($arr, $maxdepth=NULL){
$res = array();
prepare_ini__1($res, $arr, $maxdepth);
return $res;
}
function prepare_ini__1(
&$res, $arr, $maxdepth,
$prefix1="", $prefix2="", $depth=0,
$self='prepare_ini__1')
{
foreach($arr as $key=>$val){
if(is_array($val)){
if(is_null($maxdepth) or $depth < $maxdepth){
$newprefix = $prefix1 ? "$prefix1.$key" : $key;
$self($res, $val, $maxdepth, $newprefix, $prefix2, $depth+1);
}else{
$newprefix = $prefix2 ? "$prefix1.$key" : $key;
$self($res, $val, $maxdepth, $prefix1, $newprefix, $depth+1);
}
}else{
$newprefix = $prefix2 ? "$prefix2.$key" : $key;
if(!isset($res[$prefix1])) $res[$prefix1] = array();
$res[$prefix1][$newprefix] = $val;
}
}
}
// kate: indent-width 4; tab-width 8; space-indent on;
// kate: replace-tabs off; remove-trailing-space on;
?>
In order to set a " in ini files, you may follow that trick :
The yourfilename.ini file :
[yoursectionhere]
somevalue = "This "QUOTE"string"QUOTE" has quotes"
The PHP code :
<?php
define('QUOTE', '"');
$aInifile = parse_ini_file('yourfilename.ini', 'yoursectionhere');
echo 'test : ' . $aInifile['yoursectionhere']['somevalue'];
?>
parse_ini_file seems to have changed it's signature between PHP 4.3.x and PHP 5.0.0 (can't find any relevant changelog / cvs entries referring to this).
In PHP 4.3.x and below return value was a boolean FALSE if the ini file could not be found. With PHP 5.0.0 the return value is an empty array if the file is not found.