If you've been working with PHP and local files, you know that sometimes, things can get a little frustrating. Between permissions problems and path issues, it's sometimes more trouble than it's worth. Sometimes, though, you just need a good example to start from, and DevShed's new piece can help.

In File And Directory Manipulation In PHP they show you a few good easy ways to manipulate files (open/write/read/close/etc), and how to use those files as a part of your site (includes). They even give some "realistic examples" to show you how these functions can be used in a real PHP script. Later on, they discuss the functions you can use to get all of the information about a file, including the powerful stat() function.

This article is a great intro piece, and a good place to come if you're not quite sure you're using the filesystem functionality right. Everyone starts somewhere, and DevShed has a winner here...