filetype

(PHP 4, PHP 5)

filetype — Gets file type

Description

string filetype ( string $filename )

Returns the type of the given file.

Parameters

filename: Path to the file.

Return Values

Returns the type of the file. Possible values are fifo, char, dir, block, link, file, socket and unknown.

Returns FALSE if an error occurs. filetype() will also produce an E_NOTICE message if the stat call fails or if the file type is unknown.

Examples

Example #1 filetype() example


<?php

echo filetype('/etc/passwd');  // file
echo filetype('/etc/');        // dir

?>

Notes

Note: The results of this function are cached. See clearstatcache() for more details.

Tip

As of PHP 5.0.0, this function can also be used with some URL wrappers. Refer to List of Supported Protocols/Wrappers for a listing of which wrappers support stat() family of functionality.


In response to zachary.s.scott[at]gmail[dot]com.



A simplified method would be to pop the last element off the array as that one will be your extension.



<?php

    $file = "/some/path/to/your.file_stored_here.txt";

    $extension = array_pop(explode(".", $file));

?>



$extension = 'txt'



you could further use this with basename to strip off the extension completely off the file...



<?php

    $file = "/some/path/to/your.file_stored_here.txt";

    $extension = array_pop(explode(".", $file));

    $filename = basename($file, ".$extension");

?>



$extension = 'txt'

$filename = 'your.file_stored_here'

zachary.s.scott[at]gmail[dot]com
14-Jan-2008 04:15


I find that if you're trying to get the extension of a file, this method isn't the what you want. I've written a function instead:



<?php

function fileExtension($file) {

    $fileExp = explode('.', $file); // make array off the periods

    $filetype = $fileExp[count($fileExp) -1]; // file extension will be last index in array, -1 for 0-based indexes

}

?>

ruach at chpc dot utah dot edu
11-Mar-2004 01:11


There are 7 values that can be returned. Here is a list of them and what each one means



block: block special device



char: character special device



dir: directory



fifo: FIFO (named pipe)



file: regular file



link: symbolic link



unknown: unknown file type

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Last updated: Fri, 16 May 2008