scandir()

[Tom10]

Hi i am currently going through functions trying to learn more about php and i used the scandir() function, is there a way to get the output on the page without using print_r() ?

 

Thanks

[gizmola]

I'm not sure what you mean.  

 

In a web context (php being used with a web server) any output that is returned via echo or printf will be sent to the client as html by default.  print_r, var_dump and var_export are special helper functions that will give you some sort of output even when you pass them an object or array.  They are for quick and dirty debugging.  echo is your standard way of returning data to the browser as html.

[Tom10]

I tried this

<?php

$scan = scandir("/");

echo $scan;

?>

And got an output Array

[Tom10]

It's ok i figured it out

foreach(preg_grep("#[^\.]#", scandir(getcwd())) as $contents) 
{

	if($contents != '.' | $contents != '..') {
						
	print($contents . ' <BR />');

        }
}
						
					
	

[gizmola]

Great.  Also just a tip, Print and echo are the same function.  Most people use echo, because it's shorter.  

 

Printf came over from the 'C' language  and uses formatting placeholders and parameters.  There are some cases when you want to control things like the exact format of a number where printf can be attractive, although there are often a number of different ways to accomplish the same thing in php, and for the most part it's personal preference.

[Barand]

Great.  Also just a tip, Print and echo are the same function.  Most people use echo, because it's shorter.  

 

 

Sorry, Gizmola, but going to have to argue with you over that one.

 

1. print returns a value (always 1), echo does not (void function)

 

2. echo will accept multiple arguments whereas with print you have to use concatenation eg

echo 'Today is ', date('Y-m-d');           // multi args works
print 'Today is ', date('Y-m-d');           // multi args  - error
print 'Today is '. date('Y-m-d');           // concatenation works

[gizmola]

Thanks Barand -- I should have said "practically".  

 

Also more good reasons why people use echo instead.