Filesystem Helper

The Directory Helper file contains functions that assist in working with directories.

Loading this Helper

This helper is loaded using the following code:

helper('filesystem');

Available Functions

The following functions are available:

directory_map($source_dir[, $directory_depth = 0[, $hidden = FALSE]])
Parameters:
  • $source_dir (string) – Path to the source directory
  • $directory_depth (int) – Depth of directories to traverse (0 = fully recursive, 1 = current dir, etc)
  • $hidden (bool) – Whether to include hidden directories
Returns:

An array of files
Return type:

array

Examples:

$map = directory_map('./mydirectory/');

Note

Paths are almost always relative to your main index.php file.

Sub-folders contained within the directory will be mapped as well. If you wish to control the recursion depth, you can do so using the second parameter (integer). A depth of 1 will only map the top level directory:

$map = directory_map('./mydirectory/', 1);

By default, hidden files will not be included in the returned array. To override this behavior, you may set a third parameter to true (boolean):

$map = directory_map('./mydirectory/', FALSE, TRUE);

Each folder name will be an array index, while its contained files will be numerically indexed. Here is an example of a typical array:

Array (
        [libraries] => Array
                (
                        [0] => benchmark.html
                        [1] => config.html
                        ["database/"] => Array
                                (
                                        [0] => query_builder.html
                                        [1] => binds.html
                                        [2] => configuration.html
                                        [3] => connecting.html
                                        [4] => examples.html
                                        [5] => fields.html
                                        [6] => index.html
                                        [7] => queries.html
                                )
                        [2] => email.html
                        [3] => file_uploading.html
                        [4] => image_lib.html
                        [5] => input.html
                        [6] => language.html
                        [7] => loader.html
                        [8] => pagination.html
                        [9] => uri.html
                )

If no results are found, this will return an empty array.

write_file($path, $data[, $mode = 'wb'])
Parameters:
  • $path (string) – File path
  • $data (string) – Data to write to file
  • $mode (string) – fopen() mode
Returns:

TRUE if the write was successful, FALSE in case of an error
Return type:

bool

Writes data to the file specified in the path. If the file does not exist then the function will create it.

Example:

$data = 'Some file data';
if ( ! write_file('./path/to/file.php', $data))
{
        echo 'Unable to write the file';
}
else
{
        echo 'File written!';
}

You can optionally set the write mode via the third parameter:

write_file('./path/to/file.php', $data, 'r+');

The default mode is ‘wb’. Please see the PHP user guide for mode options.

Note

In order for this function to write data to a file, its permissions must be set such that it is writable. If the file does not already exist, then the directory containing it must be writable.

Note

The path is relative to your main site index.php file, NOT your controller or view files. CodeIgniter uses a front controller so paths are always relative to the main site index.

Note

This function acquires an exclusive lock on the file while writing to it.

delete_files($path[, $del_dir = FALSE[, $htdocs = FALSE]])
Parameters:
  • $path (string) – Directory path
  • $del_dir (bool) – Whether to also delete directories
  • $htdocs (bool) – Whether to skip deleting .htaccess and index page files
Returns:

TRUE on success, FALSE in case of an error
Return type:

bool

Deletes ALL files contained in the supplied path.

Example:

delete_files('./path/to/directory/');

If the second parameter is set to TRUE, any directories contained within the supplied root path will be deleted as well.

Example:

delete_files('./path/to/directory/', TRUE);

Note

The files must be writable or owned by the system in order to be deleted.

get_filenames($source_dir[, $include_path = FALSE])
Parameters:
  • $source_dir (string) – Directory path
  • $include_path (bool) – Whether to include the path as part of the filenames
Returns:

An array of file names
Return type:

array

Takes a server path as input and returns an array containing the names of all files contained within it. The file path can optionally be added to the file names by setting the second parameter to TRUE.

Example:

$controllers = get_filenames(APPPATH.'controllers/');
get_dir_file_info($source_dir, $top_level_only)
Parameters:
  • $source_dir (string) – Directory path
  • $top_level_only (bool) – Whether to look only at the specified directory (excluding sub-directories)
Returns:

An array containing info on the supplied directory’s contents
Return type:

array

Reads the specified directory and builds an array containing the filenames, filesize, dates, and permissions. Sub-folders contained within the specified path are only read if forced by sending the second parameter to FALSE, as this can be an intensive operation.

Example:

$models_info = get_dir_file_info(APPPATH.'models/');
get_file_info($file[, $returned_values = ['name', 'server_path', 'size', 'date']])
Parameters:
  • $file (string) – File path
  • $returned_values (array|string) – What type of info to return to be passed as array or comma separated string
Returns:

An array containing info on the specified file or FALSE on failure
Return type:

array

Given a file and path, returns (optionally) the name, path, size and date modified information attributes for a file. Second parameter allows you to explicitly declare what information you want returned.

Valid $returned_values options are: name, size, date, readable, writeable, executable and fileperms.

symbolic_permissions($perms)
Parameters:
  • $perms (int) – Permissions
Returns:

Symbolic permissions string
Return type:

string

Takes numeric permissions (such as is returned by fileperms()) and returns standard symbolic notation of file permissions.

echo symbolic_permissions(fileperms('./index.php'));  // -rw-r--r--
octal_permissions($perms)
Parameters:
  • $perms (int) – Permissions
Returns:

Octal permissions string
Return type:

string

Takes numeric permissions (such as is returned by fileperms()) and returns a three character octal notation of file permissions.

echo octal_permissions(fileperms('./index.php')); // 644
set_realpath($path[, $check_existence = FALSE])
Parameters:
  • $path (string) – Path
  • $check_existence (bool) – Whether to check if the path actually exists
Returns:

An absolute path
Return type:

string

This function will return a server path without symbolic links or relative directory structures. An optional second argument will cause an error to be triggered if the path cannot be resolved.

Examples:

$file = '/etc/php5/apache2/php.ini';
echo set_realpath($file); // Prints '/etc/php5/apache2/php.ini'

$non_existent_file = '/path/to/non-exist-file.txt';
echo set_realpath($non_existent_file, TRUE);    // Shows an error, as the path cannot be resolved
echo set_realpath($non_existent_file, FALSE);   // Prints '/path/to/non-exist-file.txt'

$directory = '/etc/php5';
echo set_realpath($directory);  // Prints '/etc/php5/'

$non_existent_directory = '/path/to/nowhere';
echo set_realpath($non_existent_directory, TRUE);       // Shows an error, as the path cannot be resolved
echo set_realpath($non_existent_directory, FALSE);      // Prints '/path/to/nowhere'