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The FilesystemIterator class

(PHP 5 >= 5.3.0, PHP 7)

Introduction

The Filesystem iterator

Class synopsis

FilesystemIterator extends DirectoryIterator implements SeekableIterator {

/* Constants */

const integer CURRENT_AS_PATHNAME = 32 ;

const integer CURRENT_AS_FILEINFO = 0 ;

const integer CURRENT_AS_SELF = 16 ;

const integer CURRENT_MODE_MASK = 240 ;

const integer KEY_AS_PATHNAME = 0 ;

const integer KEY_AS_FILENAME = 256 ;

const integer FOLLOW_SYMLINKS = 512 ;

const integer KEY_MODE_MASK = 3840 ;

const integer NEW_CURRENT_AND_KEY = 256 ;

const integer SKIP_DOTS = 4096 ;

const integer UNIX_PATHS = 8192 ;

/* Methods */

public __construct ( string $path [, int $flags = FilesystemIterator::KEY_AS_PATHNAME | FilesystemIterator::CURRENT_AS_FILEINFO | FilesystemIterator::SKIP_DOTS ] )

public current ( void ) : mixed

public getFlags ( void ) : int

public key ( void ) : string

public next ( void ) : void

public rewind ( void ) : void

public setFlags ([ int $flags ] ) : void

/* Inherited methods */

public DirectoryIterator::current ( void ) : DirectoryIterator

public DirectoryIterator::getATime ( void ) : int

public DirectoryIterator::getBasename ([ string $suffix ] ) : string

public DirectoryIterator::getCTime ( void ) : int

public DirectoryIterator::getExtension ( void ) : string

public DirectoryIterator::getFilename ( void ) : string

public DirectoryIterator::getGroup ( void ) : int

public DirectoryIterator::getInode ( void ) : int

public DirectoryIterator::getMTime ( void ) : int

public DirectoryIterator::getOwner ( void ) : int

public DirectoryIterator::getPath ( void ) : string

public DirectoryIterator::getPathname ( void ) : string

public DirectoryIterator::getPerms ( void ) : int

public DirectoryIterator::getSize ( void ) : int

public DirectoryIterator::getType ( void ) : string

public DirectoryIterator::isDir ( void ) : bool

public DirectoryIterator::isDot ( void ) : bool

public DirectoryIterator::isExecutable ( void ) : bool

public DirectoryIterator::isFile ( void ) : bool

public DirectoryIterator::isLink ( void ) : bool

public DirectoryIterator::isReadable ( void ) : bool

public DirectoryIterator::isWritable ( void ) : bool

public DirectoryIterator::key ( void ) : string

public DirectoryIterator::next ( void ) : void

public DirectoryIterator::rewind ( void ) : void

public DirectoryIterator::seek ( int $position ) : void

public DirectoryIterator::__toString ( void ) : string

public DirectoryIterator::valid ( void ) : bool

}

Predefined Constants

FilesystemIterator::CURRENT_AS_PATHNAME: Makes FilesystemIterator::current() return the pathname.
FilesystemIterator::CURRENT_AS_FILEINFO: Makes FilesystemIterator::current() return an SplFileInfo instance.
FilesystemIterator::CURRENT_AS_SELF: Makes FilesystemIterator::current() return $this (the FilesystemIterator).
FilesystemIterator::CURRENT_MODE_MASK: Masks FilesystemIterator::current()
FilesystemIterator::KEY_AS_PATHNAME: Makes FilesystemIterator::key() return the pathname.
FilesystemIterator::KEY_AS_FILENAME: Makes FilesystemIterator::key() return the filename.
FilesystemIterator::FOLLOW_SYMLINKS: Makes RecursiveDirectoryIterator::hasChildren() follow symlinks.
FilesystemIterator::KEY_MODE_MASK: Masks FilesystemIterator::key()
FilesystemIterator::NEW_CURRENT_AND_KEY: Same as FilesystemIterator::KEY_AS_FILENAME | FilesystemIterator::CURRENT_AS_FILEINFO.
FilesystemIterator::SKIP_DOTS: Skips dot files (. and ..).
FilesystemIterator::UNIX_PATHS: Makes paths use Unix-style forward slash irrespective of system default. Note that the path that is passed to the constructor is not modified.

Changelog

Version	Description
5.3.1	Added `FilesystemIterator::FOLLOW_SYMLINKS`

FilesystemIterator::__construct â€” Constructs a new filesystem iterator
FilesystemIterator::current â€” The current file
FilesystemIterator::getFlags â€” Get the handling flags
FilesystemIterator::key â€” Retrieve the key for the current file
FilesystemIterator::next â€” Move to the next file
FilesystemIterator::rewind â€” Rewinds back to the beginning
FilesystemIterator::setFlags â€” Sets handling flags

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User Contributed Notes 2 notes

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paul at paulgarvin dot net ¶

5 years ago


You may be wondering, like I did, what is the difference between this class and DirectoryIterator?

When you iteterate using DirectoryIterator each "value" returned is the same DirectoryIterator object. The internal state is changed so when you call isDir(), getPathname(), etc the correct information is returned. If you were to ask for a key when iterating you will get an integer index value.

FilesystemIterator (and RecursiveDirectoryIterator) on the other hand returns a new, different SplFileInfo object for each iteration step. The key is the full pathname of the file. This is by default. You can change what is returned for the key or value using the "flags" arguement to the constructor.