PHP readdir() Function

The PHP readdir() function returns the name of the next entry in the directory. The entries are returned in the order in which they are stored by the filesystem. The stream must have previously been opened by opendir() function.

Syntax

readdir(dir_handle)

Parameters

dir_handle Optional. Specify the directory handle resource previously opened with opendir(). If this parameter is not specified, the last link opened by opendir() is assumed.

Return Value

Returns the entry name on success or false on failure.

Note: This function may return Boolean false, but may also return a non-Boolean value which evaluates to false. Therefore, use === operator for testing the return value of this function.

Example: List all entries in a directory

The example below shows the usage of readdir() function.

<?php
$dir = "/temp/images";

//opens the directory, and read its contents
if (is_dir($dir)){
  if ($dh = opendir($dir)){
    
    //reading all entry from directory handle
    while (($file = readdir($dh)) !== false){
      echo "File Name: ".$file."\n";
    }
    
    //closing the directory handle
    closedir($dh);
  }
}
?>

The output of the above code will be:

File Name: fig1.png
File Name: fig2.png
File Name: Photo.jpg
File Name: .
File Name: ..
File Name: error.jpeg

Example: List all entries in a directory and strip out . and ..

The example below demonstrates how to strip out . and .. from the entry name.

<?php
$dir = "/temp/images";

//opens the directory, and read its contents
if (is_dir($dir)){
  if ($dh = opendir($dir)){
    
    //reading all entry from directory handle
    while (($file = readdir($dh)) !== false){
      if ($file != "." && $file != "..") {
        echo "File Name: ".$file."\n";
      } 
    }
    
    //closing the directory handle
    closedir($dh);
  }
}
?>

The output of the above code will be:

File Name: fig1.png
File Name: fig2.png
File Name: Photo.jpg
File Name: error.jpeg

❮ PHP Directory Reference