Helper class for reading, modifying and writing INI files, with some features that the native PHP implementation does not offer.

• When saving, preserve the original ini file formatting (including comments)
• Duplicate key names support (like the extensions list in php.ini)
• Easily change and add values
• Preserve original line ending style
• Support for single and double quote styles for values

There are three factory methods:

// open an existing ini file $ini = IniHelper::createFromFile('/path/to/file.ini');

$content = "variable=value"; // use an existing INI string $ini = IniHelper::createFromString($content);

// Start with an empty INI helper $ini = IniHelper::createNew();

The simplest way is to fetch an array of all values:

$values = $ini->toArray();

Or to fetch the values of a specific section:

if($ini->sectionExists('sectionname')) { $values = $ini->getSection('sectionname')->toArray(); }

Setting or overwriting an existing variable:

$ini->setValue('varname', 'newvalue');

A variable in a section can be set with the path notation using / as separator after the section name:

$ini->setValue('sectionname/varname', 'newvalue');

Note that if the section does not exist, it is automatically added.

When using an array of values as parameter, the variable is automatically converted to duplicate keys:

$ini->setValue('multiple', array('foo', 'bar', 'foobar'));

INI output:

multiple=foo multiple=bar multiple=foobar 

NOTE: If a variable with multiple values already exists, it is overwritten, and only the specified values are kept. In the same way, setting a multiple values variable to a single value deletes all existing values, effectively converting it to a single value variable.

The addValue method can be used to append values to a variable, while keeping the existing values:

INI content:

foo=bar foo=foobar 

$ini->addValue('foo', 'barfoo');

INI output:

foo=bar foo=foobar foo=barfoo 

Changes can be saved either to a file to to a string:

// save to a file, creating it as necessary $ini->saveToFile('/path/to/file.ini');

// get the INI file contents as string $content = $ini->saveToString();

It is also possible to get the INI string for a single section:

if($ini->sectionExists('sectionname')) { $content = $ini->getSection('sectionname')->toString(); }

Values can be quoted, but do not have to be. The only time you must use quotes is if you wish to preserve whitespace.

Quote style can be either single quotes or double quotes. Example:

foo=" bar " bar=' foo ' 

The naming of section names is entirely free, including PHP keywords. There are only two restrictions:

• They cannot contain slashes, as these are used in variable paths.
• Any whitespace around the name is automatically trimmed.