PHP | realpath( ) Function

The realpath() function in PHP is an inbuilt function which is used to return the canonicalized absolute pathname.
The realpath() function removes all symbolic links such as ‘/./’ ‘/../’ and extra ‘/’ and returns the absolute pathname.
The path is sent as a parameter to the realpath() function and it returns the absolute pathname on success and a False on failure.

Syntax:

realpath(path)

Parameters Used:
The realpath() function in PHP accepts only one parameter.

• path : It is a mandatory parameter which specifies the symbolic path whose absolute path the user wants to know.

Return Value:
It returns the absolute pathname on success and a False on failure.

Errors And Exception

1. The realpath() function returns False if the running script does not have executable permissions on all directories in the hierarchy.
2. The function realpath() will not work for a file which is inside a Phar as such a path is not a real path.
3. Some filesystem functions may return unexpected results for files which are larger than 2GB since PHP’s integer type is signed and many platforms use 32bit integers.

Examples:

Input : echo realpath("gfg.txt");
Output : C:\xampp\htdocs\filehandling\gfg.txt

Input : chdir('/docs/assignment/');
        echo realpath('./../../gfg/articles');

Output : /gfg/articles

Below programs illustrate the realpath() function.

Suppose there is a file named “gfg.txt”

Program 1

<?php
// returning absolute path
// using realpath() function
echo realpath("gfg.txt");

?>

Output:

C:\xampp\htdocs\filehandling\gfg.txt

Program 2

<?php

// using chdir() to change directory
chdir('/docs/assignment/');

// returning absolute path using realpath() function
echo realpath('./../../gfg/articles');

?>

Output:

/gfg/articles

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