How would I list the first 5 files or directories in directory sorted alphabetically with PHP?
A:
If you're thinking low level (ordered by inode number), then readdir is the function for you.
Otherwise, if you want them alphabetical, then scandir might be a better option. As in:
$firstfive = array_slice(scandir("."), 2, 5);
Note that the first two entries returned by scandir are "." and "..".
amphetamachine
2010-01-21 22:53:11
I like scandir. But doesn't that scan all the files in a directory?
usertest
2010-01-21 22:54:20
What about directories?
Veger
2010-01-21 23:01:26
+1
A:
It's probably most simple to use scandir, unless you want to do something a bit more complex. scandir returns directories as well, so we'll filter to only allow files:
$items = scandir('/path/to/dir');
$files = array();
for($i = 0, $i < 5 && $i < count($items); $i++) {
$fn = '/path/to/dir/' . $items[$i];
if(is_file($fn)) {
$files[] = $fn;
}
}
adam
2010-01-21 22:56:09
Should it? `$i < 5` and `count($files) < 5` are pretty much the same, although `$i < 5` would be marginally faster as it doesn't call a function
adam
2010-01-21 23:08:55
@Alix in your answer, what happens if there is a directory (other than `.` and `..`)?
adam
2010-01-21 23:20:33
@adam: Nothing, the directories are ignored due to the usage of the `array_filter()` function in combination with the `is_file()` function callback.
Alix Axel
2010-01-21 23:21:43
@adam: No, don't make me a liar: http://stackoverflow.com/revisions/8dec8230-025c-4bfa-9132-87c96cfbb5d2/view-source this is my first post, `array_filter()` with `is_file()` is there.
Alix Axel
2010-01-22 01:39:24
+10
A:
Using scandir():
array_slice(array_filter(scandir('/path/to/dir/'), 'is_file'), 0, 5);
The array_filter() together with the is_file() function callback makes sure we just process files without having to write a loop, we don't even have to care about . and .. as they are directories.
Or using glob() - it won't match filenames like .htaccess:
array_slice(glob('/path/to/dir/*.*'), 0, 5);
Or using glob() + array_filter() - this one will match filenames like .htaccess:
array_slice(array_filter(glob('/path/to/dir/*'), 'is_file'), 0, 5);
Alix Axel
2010-01-21 23:14:30