PHP is_file() Function: Description, Parameters, Return Values, and Usage Examples

is_file() checks whether a given filename refers to a regular file.

Signature: bool is_file(string $filename) Parameter: $filename – the path to the file.

Return value: Returns TRUE if the file exists and is a regular file; otherwise returns FALSE.

Note: On 32‑bit systems, files larger than 2 GB may produce unexpected results; use clearstatcache() to clear cached results.

Example 1:

<?php
var_dump(is_file('a_file.txt'));
var_dump(is_file('/usr/bin/'));
?>

Outputs bool(true) for an existing regular file and bool(false) for a directory.

Example 2:

<?php
$file = "test.txt";
if (is_file($file)) {
    echo "$file is a regular file";
} else {
    echo "$file is not a regular file";
}
?>