Directory Functions
PHP Manual

readdir

Read entry from directory handle

Description

stringfalse readdir(resourcenull $dir_handle = null)

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.

Parameters

dir_handle

The directory handle resource previously opened with opendir. If the directory handle is not specified, the last link opened by opendir is assumed.

Return Values

Returns the entry name on success or false on failure.

Warning

This function may return Boolean false, but may also return a non-Boolean value which evaluates to false. Please read the section on Booleans for more information. Use the === operator for testing the return value of this function.

Changelog

Version Description
8.0.0 dir_handle is now nullable.

Examples

Example #1 List all entries in a directory

Please note the fashion in which readdir's return value is checked in the examples below. We are explicitly testing whether the return value is identical to (equal to and of the same type as--see Comparison Operators for more information) false since otherwise, any directory entry whose name evaluates to false will stop the loop (e.g. a directory named "0"). 

<?php

if ($handle = opendir('/path/to/files')) {
    echo "Directory handle: $handle\n";
    echo "Entries:\n";

    /* This is the correct way to loop over the directory. */
    while (false !== ($entry = readdir($handle))) {
        echo "$entry\n";
    }

    /* This is the WRONG way to loop over the directory. */
    while ($entry = readdir($handle)) {
        echo "$entry\n";
    }

    closedir($handle);
}
?>

Example #2 List all entries in the current directory and strip out . and .. 

<?php
if ($handle = opendir('.')) {
    while (false !== ($entry = readdir($handle))) {
        if ($entry != "." && $entry != "..") {
            echo "$entry\n";
        }
    }
    closedir($handle);
}
?>

See Also

  • is_dir
  • glob
  • opendir
  • scandir