How to Read ZIP File Entries in PHP with zip_read(): Step‑by‑Step Guide

zip_read() is a PHP function that reads the next entry from an opened ZIP archive and returns its details, or false when no more entries remain.

Syntax

zip_read(resource $zip)

The $zip parameter is the resource returned by zip_open().

Usage Steps

Open the ZIP file

$zip = zip_open('path/to/zipfile.zip');

Check if the file opened successfully

if ($zip) {
    // proceed with processing
} else {
    // handle error
}

Loop through entries

while ($zip_entry = zip_read($zip)) {
    // process each entry
}

Close the ZIP file

zip_close($zip);

Within the loop, each call to zip_read() returns the next entry. The resulting $zip_entry can be inspected with zip_entry_name() for the entry name, zip_entry_filesize() for its size, and other zip_entry_* functions.

Complete example

$zip = zip_open('path/to/zipfile.zip');
if ($zip) {
    while ($zip_entry = zip_read($zip)) {
        $name = zip_entry_name($zip_entry);
        $size = zip_entry_filesize($zip_entry);
        echo "Name: $name, Size: $size bytes
";
    }
    zip_close($zip);
} else {
    echo "Failed to open ZIP file
";
}

Note that zip_read() only reads entry metadata; it does not extract file contents. To extract files, use zip_entry_open() and zip_entry_read() or other extraction functions.

In summary, zip_read() is a useful PHP function for enumerating entries in a ZIP archive, enabling further processing such as retrieving names, sizes, or reading data.