---
title: "Files"
description: "Read, write atomically and delete a file with File"
type: "docs"
category: "doc"
tags: []
authors: [Anonymous]
date: "2026-11-05"
last_update: "2026-11-05"
time_minutes: 2
draft: false
unlisted: false
url: "https://www.derafu.dev/docs/core/file/files"
---

# Files

```php
use Derafu\File\File;
```

| Method | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `File::read($path)` | The whole content of a file. |
| `File::write($path, $content, $permissions = null)` | Writes a file atomically. |
| `File::delete($path)` | Deletes a file or a symbolic link. |

## Reading

```php
$content = File::read('/var/app/data/config.json');
```

A symbolic link to a file is followed. The failures are:

| Case | Exception |
| --- | --- |
| The file does not exist (a broken link too). | `FileNotFoundException` |
| The path is a directory, or the file can not be read. | `FileAccessException` |
| The path has a null character. | `PathException` |
| The reading fails. | `FileException` |

An empty file is the empty string.

## Writing

```php
File::write('/var/app/data/config.json', $json);
File::write('/var/app/data/secret.key', $key, 0600);
```

The content goes to a temporary file in the same directory, and then it **replaces** the target with a rename. Another process sees the old file or the new one, never a half-written file, and if the process is interrupted the old file is still there. If anything fails the temporary file is deleted and the original stays as it was.

- The directories that are missing are created (see [`Directory::ensure()`](directories#ensure)).
- The permissions are `0666` minus the `umask` of the process, unless they are given.
- A directory that can not be written is a `FileAccessException`; one that can not be created, or a move that fails (a file can not replace a directory), is a `FileException`.
- A path with a null character is a `PathException`.

## Deleting

```php
File::delete('/tmp/export.csv');
```

A path that does not exist is already deleted: nothing happens. A symbolic link is deleted and what it points to stays. A directory is a `FileAccessException` (see [`Directory::remove()`](directories#remove)); a deletion that fails is a `FileException`.



---
Last updated on 05/11/2026