# PHP 5 Filesystem Functions

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## PHP Filesystem Introduction

The filesystem functions allow you to access and manipulate the filesystem.

## Installation

The filesystem functions are part of the PHP core. There is no installation needed to use these functions.

## Runtime Configuration

The behavior of the filesystem functions is affected by settings in php.ini.

Filesystem configuration options:

Name | Default | Description | Changeable
--- | --- | --- | ---
allow_url_fopen | "1" | Allows fopen()-type functions to work with URLs (available since PHP 4.0.4) | PHP_INI_SYSTEM
user_agent | NULL | Defines the user agent for PHP to send (available since PHP 4.3) | PHP_INI_ALL
default_socket_timeout | "60" | Sets the default timeout, in seconds, for socket based streams (available since PHP 4.3) | PHP_INI_ALL
from | "" | Defines the anonymous FTP password (your email address) | PHP_INI_ALL
auto_detect_line_endings | "0" | When set to "1", PHP will examine the data read by fgets() and file() to see if it is using Unix, MS-Dos or Mac line-ending characters (available since PHP 4.3) | PHP_INI_ALL

## Unix / Windows Compatibility

When specifying a path on Unix platforms, the forward slash (/) is used as directory separator. However, on Windows platforms, both forward slash (/) and backslash (\) can be used.

## PHP 5 Filesystem Functions

Function | Description
--- | ---
basename() | Returns the filename component of a path
chgrp() | Changes the file group
chmod() | Changes the file mode
chown() | Changes the file owner
clearstatcache() | Clears the file status cache
copy() | Copies a file
delete() | See unlink() or unset()
dirname() | Returns the directory name component of a path
disk_free_space() | Returns the free space of a directory
disk_total_space() | Returns the total size of a directory
diskfreespace() | Alias of disk_free_space()
fclose() | Closes an open file
feof() | Tests for end-of-file on an open file
fflush() | Flushes buffered output to an open file
fgetc() | Returns a character from an open file
fgetcsv() | Parses a line from an open file, checking for CSV fields
fgets() | Returns a line from an open file
fgetss() | Returns a line, with HTML and PHP tags removed, from an open file
file() | Reads a file into an array
file_exists() | Checks whether or not a file or directory exists
file_get_contents() | Reads a file into a string
file_put_contents() | Writes a string to a file
fileatime() | Returns the last access time of a file
filectime() | Returns the last change time of a file
filegroup() | Returns the group ID of a file
fileinode() | Returns the inode number of a file
filemtime() | Returns the last modification time of a file
fileowner() | Returns the user ID (owner) of a file
fileperms() | Returns the permissions of a file
filesize() | Returns the file size
filetype() | Returns the file type
flock() | Locks or releases a file
fnmatch() | Matches a filename or string against a specified pattern
fopen() | Opens a file or URL
fpassthru() | Reads from an open file, until EOF, and writes the result to the output buffer
fputcsv() | Formats a line as CSV and writes it to an open file
fputs() | Alias of fwrite()
fread() | Reads from an open file
fscanf() | Parses input from an open file according to a specified format
fseek() | Seeks in an open file
fstat() | Returns information about an open file
ftell() | Returns the current position in an open file
ftruncate() | Truncates an open file to a specified length
fwrite() | Writes to an open file
glob() | Returns an array of filenames / directories matching a specified pattern
is_dir() | Checks whether a file is a directory
is_executable() | Checks whether a file is executable
is_file() | Checks whether a file is a regular file
is_link() | Checks whether a file is a link
is_readable() | Checks whether a file is readable
is_uploaded_file() | Checks whether a file was uploaded via HTTP POST
is_writable() | Checks whether a file is writeable
is_writeable() | Alias of is_writable()
lchgrp() | Changes group ownership of symlink
lchown() | Changes user ownership of symlink
link() | Creates a hard link
linkinfo() | Returns information about a hard link
lstat() | Returns information about a file or symbolic link
mkdir() | Creates a directory
move_uploaded_file() | Moves an uploaded file to a new location
parse_ini_file() | Parses a configuration file
parse_ini_string() | Parses a configuration string
pathinfo() | Returns information about a file path
pclose() | Closes a pipe opened by popen()
popen() | Opens a pipe
readfile() | Reads a file and writes it to the output buffer
readlink() | Returns the target of a symbolic link
realpath() | Returns the absolute pathname
realpath_cache_get() | Returns realpath cache entries
realpath_cache_size() | Returns realpath cache size
rename() | Renames a file or directory
rewind() | Rewinds a file pointer
rmdir() | Removes an empty directory
set_file_buffer() | Sets the buffer size of an open file
stat() | Returns information about a file
symlink() | Creates a symbolic link
tempnam() | Creates a unique temporary file
tmpfile() | Creates a unique temporary file
touch() | Sets access and modification time of a file
umask() | Changes file permissions for files
unlink() | Deletes a file

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