filetype

(PHP 3, PHP 4, PHP 5)

filetype -- Gets file type

Description

string filetype ( string filename )

Returns the type of the file. Possible values are fifo, char, dir, block, link, file, and unknown.

Returns FALSE if an error occurs. filetype() will also produce an E_NOTICE message if the stat call fails or if the file type is unknown.

Note: The results of this function are cached. See clearstatcache() for more details.

Tip: As of PHP 5.0.0 this function can also be used with some URL wrappers. Refer to Appendix M for a listing of which wrappers support stat() family of functionality.

Example 1. filetype() example

<?php

echo filetype('/etc/passwd');  // file
echo filetype('/etc/');        // dir

?>

See also is_dir(), is_file(), is_link(), file_exists(), stat(), and mime_content_type().