List Directories, not files

buildakicker · 01-15-2008, 03:37 PM

Hello all,

Great website here. I hope I can share and help here, as well as get help as I learn...

I am trying to list just the directories under a certain folder. I don't want the files, just directories. Currently I have this:

PHP Code:


			
<?php

if ($handle = opendir('../categories/')) {

    /* loop through directory. */

    while (false !== ($dir = readdir($handle))) {

        echo '<option value='.$dir.'>'.$dir.'</option>';

    }

    closedir($handle);

}

?>

Right now it shows a drop down select option with this at the beginning:

PHP Code:


			
.

..

Directory1

Directory2

Any ideas?

Thanks!

RobertK · 01-15-2008, 03:50 PM

Personally I'd do it this way:

PHP Code:


			
foreach(glob('../categories/*', GLOB_ONLYDIR) as $dir) {
  echo '<option value='.$dir.'>'.$dir.'</option>';
}

My level is roughly halfway between intermediate and advanced, depending upon which subject you're after.

buildakicker · 01-15-2008, 03:57 PM

Thanks for the reply. However, I would like to just display the Directory Name, not with ../categories/ in front of it. I found if I do:

PHP Code:


			
if ($handle = opendir('../categories/')) {
            /* loop through directory. */
            while (false !== ($dir = readdir($handle))) {
                if($dir != ".." && $dir != "."){
                    echo '<option value='.$dir.'>'.$dir.'</option>';
                }
            }
            closedir($handle);
        }

It hides the "." and ".." , how can I hide the ../categories/ with your example? It seems to be a simple, quicker approach.

Alan @ CIT · 01-15-2008, 03:58 PM

I'd suggest using the is_dir() function in your while() loop.

Eg:

PHP Code:


			
<?php 

if ($handle = opendir('../categories/')) { 

    /* loop through directory. */ 

    while (false !== ($dir = readdir($handle))) {

        if (is_dir($dir))

        {

            echo '<option value='.$dir.'>'.$dir.'</option>'; 

        }

    } 

    closedir($handle); 

} 

?>

In theory, this should skip anything that isn't a directory.

Note: '.' and '..' are considered directories so you might want to strip them as well

Alan.

Wildhoney · 01-15-2008, 04:01 PM

How about something such as the following. You could use regular expressions, but a normal string replace is much faster in this case.

php Code:

foreach(glob('../categories/*', GLOB_ONLYDIR) as $dir) {
    $dir = str_replace('../categories/', '', $dir);
    echo '<option value='.$dir.'>'.$dir.'</option>';
}

buildakicker · 01-15-2008, 04:15 PM

Thanks Wildhoney. That's nice and small and quick.

I am in the process of creating a flatfile cms of a sort for an intranet that has no access to a database, well I guess there is an Oracle db, but I don't understand how to use it... no one knows... I am trying to create a post function that will allow users to post information under directories. That is why I am trying to get just the directories.

Thanks!

Alan @ CIT · 01-15-2008, 04:18 PM

Assuming your PHP build supports it, you coud always use SQLite instead - a ready to go database server built in to PHP

More details: TalkPHP - Introduction to SQLite (yes, blatent self-promotion

)

Alan

Salathe · 01-15-2008, 05:11 PM

How about:

PHP Code:


			
foreach(glob('../categories/*', GLOB_ONLYDIR) as $dir)

{

    $dir = basename($dir);

    echo '<option value="', $dir, '">', $dir, '</option>';

}

We use GLOB_ONLYDIR as in Wildhoney's example to grab the paths to directories within ../categories, then grab only the directory name (using basename()), before outputting the option HTML element.

Aside: Note the use of commas to separate expressions for the echo statement, rather than concatenating to a string.

buildakicker · 01-15-2008, 05:16 PM

No php5... someday they MIGHT update. Salathe... even less code! This is great. I went from 168 to 121 characters.

Have any of you used Gladius? Or FFDB?

RobertK · 01-15-2008, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buildakicker

Have any of you used Gladius? Or FFDB?

Nope. I refuse to use project licensed with viral licenses like the GPL. The copyleft forces me to adopt a GPL license, when I have absolutely no desire to use the GPL. No good. GPLv3 removes any ability I had before to use a GPL licensed project in compiled form too, like a library. Free implies freedom of use as well as "no cost".

Haven't seen/heard-of FFDB so ... nope. Gladius, heard of it by vague reference.

buildakicker · 01-15-2008, 09:51 PM

Salathe: I just noticed that when I link to the $dir that is passed, I get only the first word in the directory. How do I go about making sure there are no spaces, and if there is, filling it with a _ when new directories are created from my form?

PHP Code:


			
      $path = "../categories/";
    foreach(glob('../categories/*', GLOB_ONLYDIR) as $dir){
        $dir = basename($dir);
        echo '<li><a href='.$path.''. $dir .'>'.$dir.'</a></li>';
    }

Village Idiot · 01-15-2008, 10:08 PM

PHP Code:


			
str_replace( " "  , "_"  , $dir)

That will replace every space in $dir with an underscore.

Aaron · 01-15-2008, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobertK

Nope. I refuse to use project licensed with viral licenses like the GPL. The copyleft forces me to adopt a GPL license, when I have absolutely no desire to use the GPL. No good. GPLv3 removes any ability I had before to use a GPL licensed project in compiled form too, like a library. Free implies freedom of use as well as "no cost".

Haven't seen/heard-of FFDB so ... nope. Gladius, heard of it by vague reference.

Isn't MySQL licensed under the GPL?

Village Idiot · 01-15-2008, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron

Isn't MySQL licensed under the GPL?

I dont believe so.

RobertK · 01-15-2008, 10:26 PM

Aaron,

I'm not sure, but even if it is the implementation is a binary executable or library bound into PHP, and our scripts are just data and exempt. (WHEW!) If it gets linked into (compiled) or bound into your application you must use the GPL too. Reference this part of the FAQ plus the following two sections. This one is ugly too. And this, and the one immediately after. Unfortunately there is no end to this.

So, it's just a lot simpler to avoid all GPL'ed code for non-GPL projects. No headaches that way.

buildakicker · 01-15-2008, 10:31 PM

Depends on your projects:

MySQL AB :: MySQL Licensing Policy

buildakicker · 01-15-2008, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Village Idiot

PHP Code:


			
str_replace( " "  , "_"  , $dir)

That will replace every space in $dir with an underscore.

Thanks for the help once again.

EyeDentify · 01-16-2008, 09:02 AM

Hey i just had to put my little contribution to the tread.

I borrowed some of WildHoneys code (sorry about that :) ).

php Code:

$path = '../categories/';
$path_len = strlen($path);

foreach(glob($path . '*', GLOB_ONLYDIR) as $dir) {
    
$dir = substr($dir, 0, -$path_len);
echo '<option value='.$dir.'>'.$dir.'</option>';

}

My hopes is that going this way the lenght of the path would be recognized and cut of from the $dir variable.

I was unsure about the last two parameters in substr() at time of writing this quickly, but i think you get the idea.

/EyeDentify