PHP is_executable() Function

The PHP is_executable() function checks whether a file exists and is executable.

Note: The results of this function are cached. Use clearstatcache() function to clear the cache.

Syntax

is_executable(filename)

Parameters

filename Required. Specify the path to the file to check.

Return Value

Returns true if the filename exists and is executable, or false on error.

Exceptions

Upon failure, an E_WARNING is thrown.

Example:

Lets assume that we have a file called test.txt and setup.exe in the current working directory. The example below demonstrates on using this function to check if these files are executable or not.

<?php
$file1 = 'test.txt';
$file2 = 'setup.exe';

//checking if $file1 is executable
if(is_executable($file1)) {
  echo "The file $file1 is executable.\n";
} else {
  echo "The file $file1 is not executable.\n";
}

//checking if $file2 is executable
if(is_executable($file2)) {
  echo "The file $file2 is executable.\n";
} else {
  echo "The file $file2 is not executable.\n";
}
?>

The output of the above code will be:

The file test.txt is not executable.
The file setup.exe is executable.

❮ PHP Filesystem Reference