Common PHP File and Directory Utility Functions

Below is a set of handy PHP functions that can be directly used in backend development to manage files and directories, reducing the amount of repetitive code you need to write.

1. Check if a directory exists

function check_dir($path, $create = false) {
    if (is_dir($path)) {
        return true;
    }
    return false;
}

2. Create a directory

function create_dir($path) {
    if (!file_exists($path)) {
        if (mkdir($path, 0777, true)) {
            return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}

3. Check if a file exists

function check_file($path, $create = false, $content = null) {
    if (file_exists($path)) {
        return true;
    }
    return false;
}

4. Create a file

function create_file($path, $content = null, $over = false) {
    if (file_exists($path) && !$over) {
        return false;
    } elseif (file_exists($path)) {
        @unlink($path);
    }
    check_dir(dirname($path), true);
    $handle = fopen($path, 'w') or error('创建文件失败，请检查目录权限！');
    fwrite($handle, $content);
    return fclose($handle);
}

5. List sub‑directories

function dir_list($path) {
    $list = array();
    if (!is_dir($path) || !$filename = scandir($path)) {
        return $list;
    }
    $files = count($filename);
    for ($i = 0; $i < $files; $i++) {
        $dir = $path . '/' . $filename[$i];
        if (is_dir($dir) && $filename[$i] != '.' && $filename[$i] != '..') {
            $list[] = $filename[$i];
        }
    }
    return $list;
}

6. List files in a directory

function file_list($path) {
    $list = array();
    if (!is_dir($path) || !$filename = scandir($path)) {
        return $list;
    }
    $files = count($filename);
    for ($i = 0; $i < $files; $i++) {
        $dir = $path . '/' . $filename[$i];
        if (is_file($dir)) {
            $list[] = $filename[$i];
        }
    }
    return $list;
}

7. List both files and sub‑directories

function path_list($path) {
    $list = array();
    if (!is_dir($path) || !$filename = scandir($path)) {
        return $list;
    }
    $files = count($filename);
    for ($i = 0; $i < $files; $i++) {
        $dir = $path . '/' . $filename[$i];
        if (is_file($dir) || (is_dir($dir) && $filename[$i] != '.' && $filename[$i] != '..')) {
            $list[] = $filename[$i];
        }
    }
    return $list;
}

8. Delete a directory and its contents (or delete a single file)

/**
 * Delete a directory and all its files, or delete a specific file
 * @param string $path Path to delete
 * @param bool   $delDir Whether to delete the directory itself (true) or keep it (false)
 * @return bool Deletion status
 */
function path_delete($path, $delDir = false, $exFile = array()) {
    $result = true; // true for empty directories
    if (!file_exists($path)) {
        return $result;
    }
    if (is_dir($path)) {
        if ($dirs = scandir($path)) {
            foreach ($dirs as $value) {
                if ($value != '.' && $value != '..' && !in_array($value, $exFile)) {
                    $dir = $path . '/' . $value;
                    $result = is_dir($dir) ? path_delete($dir, $delDir, $exFile) : unlink($dir);
                }
            }
            if ($result && $delDir) {
                return rmdir($path);
            } else {
                return $result;
            }
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    } else {
        return unlink($path);
    }
}

9. Copy a directory recursively

function dir_copy($src, $des, $son = 1) {
    if (!is_dir($src)) {
        return false;
    }
    if (!is_dir($des)) {
        create_dir($des);
    }
    $handle = dir($src);
    while ($path = $handle->read()) {
        if ($path != '.' && $path != '..') {
            if (is_dir($src . '/' . $path)) {
                if ($son) {
                    dir_copy($src . '/' . $path, $des . '/' . $path, $son);
                }
            } else {
                copy($src . '/' . $path, $des . '/' . $path);
            }
        }
    }
    return true;
}

Feel free to copy these snippets into your projects; they can save you time when handling common filesystem tasks.