PHP | file_exists( ) Function

The file_exists() function in PHP is an inbuilt function which is used to check whether a file or directory exists or not.

The path of the file or directory you want to check is passed as a parameter to the file_exists() function which returns True on success and False on failure.

Syntax:

file_exists($path)

Parameters: The file_exists() function in PHP accepts only one parameter $path. It specifies the path of the file or directory you want to check.

Return Value: It returns True on success and False on failure.

Errors And Exception:

1. The file_exists() function returns False if the path specified points to non-existent files.
2. For files larger than 2gb, some of the filesystem functions may give unexpected results since PHP’s integer type is signed and many platforms use 32bit integers.

Examples:

Input : echo file_exists('/user01/work/gfg.txt');
Output : 1

Input : $file_pointer = '/user01/work/gfg.txt';
        if (file_exists($file_pointer)) {
            echo "The file $file_pointer exists";
        }else {
            echo "The file $file_pointer does 
                                   not exists";
        }
Output : 1

Below programs illustrate the file_exists() function.

Program 1:

<?php

// checking whether file exists or not
echo file_exists('/user01/work/gfg.txt');

?>

Output:

1

Program 2:

<?php

// checking whether file exists or not
$file_pointer = '/user01/work/gfg.txt';

if (file_exists($file_pointer))
{
    echo "The file $file_pointer exists";
}
else
{
    echo "The file $file_pointer does
                             not exists";
}

?>

Output:

1

Reference:
http://php.net/manual/en/function.file-exists.php

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. You can learn PHP from the ground up by following this PHP Tutorial and PHP Examples.