Why Are My Line Breaks Appearing as Strings in my PHP File Output?

Line Breaks in PHP File Output

In PHP, writing to a file often involves using newline characters to separate lines. However, a common issue arises when the newline character appears as a string rather than a line break.

The Problem: String Newlines

The example code writes the content of $gemList to a file named ids.txt, using fwrite() to append to the file. However, the code uses 'n' instead of "n", resulting in the line breaks being written as part of the file's content, not as actual newlines.

The Solution: Escape Sequences

To fix this issue, the 'n' should be replaced with "n", which is the correct escape sequence for a newline character in PHP. By escaping the double quotes, PHP will interpret the sequence as a newline character instead of a string.

Line Ending Considerations

Additionally, it's important to note that different operating systems handle line endings differently. Windows uses the "rn" escape sequence (carriage return followed by newline), while Unix-based systems use "n". To ensure compatibility across systems, it's best to stick to one convention and open the file in binary mode (e.g., fopen('ids.txt', 'wb')).

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