PHP scandir function

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scandir

(PHP 5)

scandir — List files and directories inside the specified pathDescriptionarray scandir ( string directory [, int sorting_order [, resource context]] )

Returns an array of files and directories from the
directory.

Parameters

directory

The directory that will be scanned.

sorting_order

By default, the sorted order is alphabetical in ascending order. If
the optional sorting_order is used (set to 1),
then the sort order is alphabetical in descending order.

context

For a description of the context parameter,
refer to the streams section of
the manual.


Return Values

Returns an array of filenames on success, or FALSE on
failure. If directory is not a directory, then
boolean FALSE is returned, and an error of level
E_WARNING is generated.

Examples

Example 1. A simple scandir() example

$dir    = '/tmp';
$files1 = scandir($dir);
$files2 = scandir($dir, 1);
 
print_r($files1);
print_r($files2);

The above example will output
something similar to:

Array
(
[0] => .
[1] => ..
[2] => bar.php
[3] => foo.txt
[4] => somedir
)
Array
(
[0] => somedir
[1] => foo.txt
[2] => bar.php
[3] => ..
[4] => .
)

Example 2. PHP 4 alternatives to scandir()

$dir = "/tmp";
$dh  = opendir($dir);
while (false !== ($filename = readdir($dh))) {
    $files[] = $filename;
}
 
sort($files);
 
print_r($files);
 
rsort($files);
 
print_r($files);

The above example will output
something similar to:

Array
(
[0] => .
[1] => ..
[2] => bar.php
[3] => foo.txt
[4] => somedir
)
Array
(
[0] => somedir
[1] => foo.txt
[2] => bar.php
[3] => ..
[4] => .
)

Notes

Tip: You can use a URL as a
filename with this function if the fopen wrappers have been enabled.
See fopen() for more details on how to specify
the filename and Appendix N for a list of supported
URL protocols.

See Also

opendir()readdir()glob()is_dir()sort()



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