How to Deal with PHP Recursive Functions when we want to push array and return it

Question

I'm trying to get the absolute path of some files in a folder with PHP. I use 2 recursive functions. the first one returns all the folders and files information in an array. the second one takes this array as an argument and skips the folders and must return the absolute path of the files. but I don't know where I do wrong. the second function just returns a null array.but when I echo the results it works.

here is the code :

function scan($dir){
    $files = array();
    if(file_exists($dir)){
        foreach(scandir($dir) as $f) {

            if(!$f || $f[0] == '.') {
                continue;
            }
            if(is_dir($dir . '/' . $f)) {
                $files[] = array(
                    "name" => $f,
                    "type" => "folder",
                    "path" => $dir . '/' . $f,
                    "items" => scan($dir . '/' . $f)
                );
            }
            else {
                $files[] = array(
                    "name" => $f,
                    "type" => "file",
                    "path" => $dir . '/' . $f,
                    "dirpath" => $dir
                );
            }
        }
    }
    return $files;
}
function get_files($res)
{
    $files = array();
    foreach ($res as $re)
    {
        if($re["type"] == "folder")
        {
            get_files($re["items"]);
        }
        else
        {
            $files[] = $re["path"];
        }
    }
    return $files;
}
function print_files($res)
{
    $count = 1;
    foreach ($res as $re)
    {
        if($re["type"] == "folder")
        {
            print_files($re["items"]);
        }
        else
        {
            echo($count." - ".$re["path"]."<br>");
            $count++;
        }
    }
}

the third function works but when I try to return those results in an array with the second function it returns a null array. so the problem is my second function. What can I do about it? thank you in advance.

print_files echos the content, where get_files will simply call the function, you would need to use $files = get_files($re["items"]); — Will B.
– Will B., Commented Feb 17, 2019 at 6:40
Yes, I know and already tried this but this will put those items in the array which include folders too.I want just files to be included in the final array — Alireza Seyedzade
– Alireza Seyedzade, Commented Feb 17, 2019 at 6:45

ArtisticPhoenix · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-17 07:38:30Z

2

Have you looked into SPL iterators

$Iterator = new RecursiveIteratorIterator(new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($dir, FilesystemIterator::UNIX_PATHS));

$files = array(); 

/*@var $file SplFileInfo*/  //<-- for Eclipse PDT, PHPStorm etc. IDE autocomplete
foreach ($Iterator as $file) {
    if ($file->isDir()) continue; 

    $files[$file->getPathname()] = $file; 
}

//returns ['somefolder/somefile.txt' => SplFileInfo Object(), ...]

Besides recursive iteration though the path, with the flag above (see FLAGS) it also converts windows \ to linux /, you can even skip the dots .. and .. In this case the dot's don't matter because they are folders (isDir) so are skipped over.

And in the above $file is a SPLFileInfo object which lets you get just the filename, the path, the extension, modified time, size etc... In otherwords many of the things you are putting in your array.

Basically this does most, if not more than what you wan't with way less code..

edited Feb 17, 2019 at 7:38

answered Feb 17, 2019 at 7:00

ArtisticPhoenix

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10 Comments

Alireza Seyedzade Over a year ago

thank you, man.it works very well even faster than my code.you saved my life :X :D

ArtisticPhoenix Over a year ago

They are difficult to get your head around at first, because it's almost magical. But I love them... You can even do if($file->getExtension() == 'txt') and return only files of a given extension etc...

ArtisticPhoenix Over a year ago

If you really want to get fancy you can even set one up to use a Regex (regular expression) for filenames etc RecursiveRegexIterator. Or combine them with other iterators.

ArtisticPhoenix Over a year ago

I use Eclipse PDT, in that for loops you can do /*@var $file SplFileInfo*/ just before the foreach. Not sure if it also works in PHPstorm.

ArtisticPhoenix Over a year ago

Sure I learned a lot on here, back in the day, so it's my way of saying thanks SO.

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