function openDb() {
	global $linkID;
	
	$linkID = @mysql_connect( 'localhost', USER, PASSWORD ) or die("cannot connect to db because " . mysql_error()); 
	mysql_select_db( DATABASE, $linkID ) or die("cannot select db because " . mysql_error()); 
}

if( !( $fp = fopen( "http or a local file", "r or w or a" ))) {
	print( "File could not be opened." );<br />
}

while( !feof( $fp ) ) {
	// read a line from the file
	$myLine = fgets( $fp );
	print( $myLine . "<br />\n" );
}

fputs( $fp, "Hello World!" );



fclose( $fp );