CFFILE ACTION = READ  
Description

Reads a text file on the server. The file is read into a dynamic, local parameter that you can use in the page. For example:

  • Read a text file; insert the file's contents into a database
  • Read a text file; use the find and replace function to modify the file's contents
Note: This action reads the file into a variable in the local Variables scope. It is not intended for use with large files, such as logs, because this can bring down the server.
 
Syntax
    <cffile 
   action = "read" 
   file = "full_path_name"
   variable = "var_name"
   charset = "charset_option" >

  
 
See also

cfdirectory

New in ColdFusion MX: this action attribute option supports the charset attribute.

 
Usage

The following example creates a variable named Message for the contents of the file message.txt:

<cffile          action = "read" 
file = "c:\web\message.txt" 
variable = "Message">

The variable Message can be used in the page. For example, you could display the contents of the message.txt file in the final web page as follows:

<cfoutput>#Message#</cfoutput>

ColdFusion supports functions for manipulating the contents of text files. You can also use the variable that is created by a cffile action = "read" operation in the ArrayToList and ListToArray functions.

ACTION  
  Required
 

Type of file manipulation that the tag performs.

FILE  
  Required
 

Absolute pathname of file.

On Windows, use backward slashes; on UNIX, use forward slashes.

VARIABLE  
  Required
 

Name of variable to contain contents of text file.

CHARSET  
  Optional
 
Default value: "UTF-8"

The Java character set name used for the file contents.

The following values are typically used:

  • UTF-8
  • ISO-8859-1
  • UTF-16
  • US-ASCII
  • UTF-16BE
  • UTF-16LE

For a list of character sets, see:http://www.w3.org/International/O-charset-lang.html