PHP reference

glob

Finds files by a name pattern.

Syntax

glob(string $pattern, int $flags = 0): array|false

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$pattern	string	A path pattern: `*` stands for any characters.
$flags	int	Optional. For example, `GLOB_ONLYDIR` returns folders only.

Return value

array|falseAn array of paths; empty if nothing is found.

Examples

Every image in a folder:

<?php
 
$dir = sys_get_temp_dir() . '/ref-glob';
if (!is_dir($dir)) {
    mkdir($dir);
}
file_put_contents($dir . '/photo.jpg', '');
file_put_contents($dir . '/notes.txt', '');
 
echo implode(', ', array_map('basename', glob($dir . '/*.jpg')));

Output:

photo.jpg

Notes

Full paths are returned, not just names. The GLOB_BRACE flag allows several extensions at once: *.{jpg,png}.

Related recipes

How to list the files in a folder

In the tutorial

Folders and paths — Working with folders in PHP — creating them, listing files, searching by a mask, parts of a path and file information.

Thanks for reading!