PHP | dir() (Get instance of the Directory)

The dir() function in PHP used to find the instance of a Directory class. This function read directory, which includes the following:

• The given directory is opened.
• The two properties handle and path of dir() are available.
• The handle property can be used with other directory functions such as readdir(), rewinddir(), closedir(). The path property is set to path the directory that was opened
• Both handle and path properties have three methods: read(), rewind(), and close().

Syntax :

 dir(string $directory, resource $context)

Parameters Used :
The dir() function accepts two parameters. They are illustrated as follows:

1. $directory : It is a required parameter. It specifies the directory to be opened.
2. $context : It is an optional parameter. It contains references to all modules in the
   directory that can be required with a request matching the regular expression.

Return Value :
The above function will return an instance of the Directory class on success. Otherwise will return FALSE on Failure.

Note:

1. The order in which directory entries are returned by the read method is system-dependent.
2. This function defines the internal class Directory, meaning that we will not be able to define our own classes with that name.

Example :
Below is the implementation of above explained function :

<?php

// getcwd() function will return
// the current working directory
$directory = dir(getcwd());

// Exploring directories and their contents
echo "Handle: " . $directory->handle . "\n";
echo "Path: " . $directory->path . "";

// If the evaluation is true then, the loop will
// continue otherwise any directory entry with name
// equals to FALSE will stop the loop .
while (($file = $directory->read()) !== false) {

    // printing Filesystem objects/functions with PHP
    echo "filename: " . $file . "\n";
}
$directory->close();
?>

Output :

Handle: Resource id #3
Path: /storage/ssd2/630/2687630/public_html
filename: .
filename: ..
filename: bookkart
filename: index.php
filename: upload.html
filename: hello.html
filename: file-upload-manager.php
filename: tmp.php
filename: raj.php
filename: gfgchecking
filename: gfg.txt

Reference : http://php.net/manual/en/function.dir.php