Directory operations in PHP - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Directory operations

📖 Scenario: You are managing files on a server. You want to list all files in a folder to see what is inside.

🎯 Goal: Build a PHP script that reads the contents of a directory and prints the names of all files and folders inside it.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a variable holding the directory path

Create a variable to open the directory using opendir()

Use a while loop with readdir() to read directory entries

Print each entry name except the special entries . and ..

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Listing files in a folder is common when managing server files, creating file browsers, or processing multiple files automatically.

💼 Career

Understanding directory operations is important for backend developers, system administrators, and anyone working with file systems in PHP.

1

Set the directory path

Create a variable called $dir and set it to the string './test_folder'.

PHP

$dir = './test_folder';
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use $dir = './test_folder'; to set the directory path.

2

Open the directory

Create a variable called $handle and set it to the result of opendir($dir).

PHP

<?php
$dir = './test_folder';
$handle = opendir($dir);
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use opendir($dir) to open the directory and assign it to $handle.

3

Read directory entries

Use a while loop with readdir($handle) assigned to $entry to read each item. Inside the loop, skip entries named . and .. using an if statement.

PHP

<?php
$dir = './test_folder';
$handle = opendir($dir);
while (($entry = readdir($handle)) !== false) {
    # Your code here
}

Need a hint?

Use while (($entry = readdir($handle)) !== false) to loop. Use if ($entry === '.' || $entry === '..') to skip special entries.

4

Print directory entries

Inside the while loop, add a print statement to display each $entry followed by a newline. After the loop, close the directory handle with closedir($handle).

PHP

<?php
$dir = './test_folder';
$handle = opendir($dir);
while (($entry = readdir($handle)) !== false) {
    if ($entry === '.' || $entry === '..') {
        continue;
    }
    # Your code here
}
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use print($entry . "\n") to show each entry. Use closedir($handle) to close the directory.