PHP file_exists directory

Question

I am trying to use file exists in a subdirectory and running into some problems with the directory structure or perhaps something else. This code was working earlier when called from the main directory

The file that includes the command is in a subdirectory that is one directory below the main directory of the domain.

When I call the following on a file that I know exists nothing is returned, neither FALSE nor TRUE

$imgpath1 = 'pics/'.$userid.'_pic.jpg';
$exists = file_exists($imgpath1);
echo "1".$exists;//returns 1

I have tried different variations of the directory such as '/pics...' and also '../pics...' as well as the whole url begininning with 'http://www....' but cannot get it to return either a FALSE or a TRUE.

Would appreciate any suggestions.

try to add realpath($_SERVER["DOCUMENT_ROOT"]) before the 'pics/' — Lucky Chingi
– Lucky Chingi, Commented Oct 23, 2015 at 20:41
You can't echo a boolean how you think. Instead use var_dump($exists);. — Mike
– Mike, Commented Oct 23, 2015 at 20:43
echo false prints out nothing. echo true would print out 1, so you must be getting boolean false, meaning that directory doesn't exist. You need to know exactly where it is relative to this script's working directory, or provide an absolute path to it. — Marc B
– Marc B, Commented Oct 23, 2015 at 20:45
OK. vardump is printing out false so that problem is solved. However, the directory is still not being identified correctly as a file does exist in that directory. — user1904273
– user1904273, Commented Oct 23, 2015 at 20:48

Jack Wilsdon · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-23 20:45:10Z

1

When coercing true to a string, you get a 1.

When coercing false to a string, you get an empty string.

Here's an example of this:

<?php
echo "True: \"" . true . "\"\n";
echo "False: \"" . false . "\"\n";

echo "True length: " . strlen("" . true) . "\n";
echo "False length: " . strlen("" . false) . "\n"
?>

And the output from running it:

True: "1"
False: ""
True length: 1
False length: 0

So in reality, file_exists($imgpath1) is returning false.

answered Oct 23, 2015 at 20:45

Jack Wilsdon

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Nicholas Summers · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-23 20:48:16Z

0

Try this:

var_dump(realpath(__DIR__.'/../pics'));

If you get false the path doesn't exist, otherwise you get the path as a string.

answered Oct 23, 2015 at 20:48

Nicholas Summers

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Pedro Lobito · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-23 20:51:38Z

0

You cannot echo a Boolean as True or False, it will be echoed as 1 or 0 respectively.
Although, you can use the ternary conditional operator, something like :

$exists = file_exists($imgpath1);
echo $exists ? 'true' : 'false';

edited Oct 23, 2015 at 20:51

answered Oct 23, 2015 at 20:46

Pedro Lobito

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khoekman · Accepted Answer · 2015-10-23 21:24:27Z

0

You could use the following code. It is a little bit verbose.

//get the absolute path /var/www/... 
$currentWorkingDirectory = getcwd(); 

//get the path to the image file
$imgpath1 = $currentWorkingDirectory . '/pics/' . $userid . '_pic.jpg';

//in case the pics folder is one level higher
//$imgpath1 = $currentWorkingDirectory . '/../pics/' . $userid . '_pic.jpg';

//test existence 
if (file_exists($imgpath1)) {
    echo "The file $imgpath1 exists";
} else {
    echo "The file $imgpath1 does not exist";
}

edited Oct 23, 2015 at 21:24

answered Oct 23, 2015 at 21:18

khoekman

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