File Read
fread function is used to read content of a file. file pointer and number of bytes to be read are parameters that fread function required. fread returns string read on success or FALSE on failiure.
Example of reading content of a file:

<?php
    $filename = 'example.txt';
    if (! ($fp = fopen($filename, 'r') ) ) {
    echo 'Unable to open file '. $filename;
    }else {
    $file_size = filesize($filename);
    if (  !($contents = fread($fp, $file_size)  ) ) {
    echo 'Error: read operation failed';
    }else{
    echo 'content read is ' . $contents;
    }
    fclose($fp);
    }
   ?>