is_readable

    (PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

    is_readable — Tells whether a file exists and is readable

    Description

    is_readable(string $filename): bool

    Tells whether a file exists and is readable.

    Parameters

    filename

    Path to the file.

    Return Values

    Returns true if the file or directory specified by filename exists and is readable, false otherwise.

    Errors/Exceptions

    Upon failure, an E_WARNING is emitted.

    Examples

    Example #1 is_readable() example

    <?php
    $filename     = 'test.txt';
    if (    is_readable($filename)) {
    echo     'The file is readable';
    } else {
    echo     'The file is not readable';
    }
    ?>

    Notes

    Keep in mind that PHP may be accessing the file as the user id that the web server runs as (often 'nobody').

    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 Supported Protocols and Wrappers to determine which wrappers support stat() family of functionality.

    Note:

    The check is done using the real UID/GID instead of the effective one.

    This function may return true for directories. Use is_dir() to distinguish file and directory.

    See Also

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    User Contributed Notes 3 notes

    up
    9
    jo at durchholz dot org
    19 years ago
    DrTebi at yahoo dot com is wrong. is_readable() checks whether you can do file_get_contents() or similar calls, no more, no less. If the location given returns a 500 or 403 error, you can still read() that (you'll simply get the error page), but it's still read()able. Using is_readable to check the validity of a URL is simply the wrong function.
    up
    1
    pgl at yoyo dot org
    16 years ago
    Note that is_readable() will return false for streams, eg, php://stdin.
    up
    0
    arikan134 at gmail dot com
    9 years ago
    is readable recursively. Check all sub directories and files readable<?phpfunction is_readable_r($dir) {    if (is_dir($dir)) {        if(is_readable($dir)){            $objects = scandir($dir);            foreach ($objects as $object) {                if ($object != "." && $object != "..") {                    if (!is_readable_r($dir."/".$object)) return false;                    else continue;                }            }                return true;            }else{            return false;        }            }else if(file_exists($dir)){        return (is_readable($dir));            }}?>
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