# Phar::loadPhar

(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7, PECL phar >= 1.0.0)

Phar::loadPhar — Loads any phar archive with an alias

### Description

final public static Phar::loadPhar ( string `$filename` [, string `$alias` ] ) : bool

This can be used to read the contents of an external Phar archive. This is most useful for assigning an alias to a phar so that subsequent references to the phar can use the shorter alias, or for loading Phar archives that only contain data and are not intended for execution/inclusion in PHP scripts.

### Parameters

`filename`

  the full or relative path to the phar archive to open

`alias`

  The alias that may be used to refer to the phar archive. Note that many phar archives specify an explicit alias inside the phar archive, and a PharException will be thrown if a new alias is specified in this case.

### Return Values

Returns `TRUE` on success or `FALSE` on failure.

### Errors/Exceptions

PharException is thrown if an alias is passed in and the phar archive already has an explicit alias

### Examples

Example #1 A Phar::loadPhar() example

Phar::loadPhar can be used anywhere to load an external Phar archive, whereas Phar::mapPhar should be used in a loader stub for a Phar.

`<?php
try {
Phar::loadPhar('/path/to/phar.phar', 'my.phar');
echo file_get_contents('phar://my.phar/file.txt');
} catch (PharException $e) {
echo $e;
}
?>`

### See Also

- Phar::mapPhar() - Reads the currently executed file (a phar) and registers its manifest