PHP if file exists, always show that exists

Question

I have database columns attach1 and attach2. I need to show files (pdf) from those columns, but only if they exist in directory www.domain.com/uploads. Attach1 contains real file but attach2 does not.

I tried something like this:

<?php
$file = $row['attach'];
$exists = file_exists('uploads/'.$file.''); 
if ($exists) {
  echo $file;
}
if (!$exists) {
  echo 'No file1';
}      
?>

<?php
$file2 = $row['attach2'];
$exists = file_exists('uploads/'.$file2.''); 
if ($exists) {
  echo $file2;
}
if (!$exists) {
  echo 'No file2';
}      
?>

But everytime it echoes me back, that file exists, even when attach2 contains nothing. Why?

Not to your question, but there are a number of pointless things in your code sample. You don't need to concatenate an ampty string onto the end of the filename. you don't need to save the result of file_exists in a variable. You can use else to simplify your conditionals. — Tim Seguine
– Tim Seguine, Commented Dec 14, 2013 at 9:38
Did you try to echo $file2 and make sure it's not empty? If it is, you'd be checking file_exists('/uploads'), which is of course TRUE. — Mureinik
– Mureinik, Commented Dec 14, 2013 at 9:41
Yes I'm sure its empty. Ok if I'm checking the directory, how can I check concrete file? — user2957822
– user2957822, Commented Dec 14, 2013 at 9:43

Tim Seguine · Accepted Answer · 2013-12-14 09:50:02Z

2

If your filename is empty, then you are passing only the directory name to file_exists. Directories are files too. And I reckon the directory does actually exist. It is not lying to you.

You can either check that the filename from the database is not empty, or you can pass the whole string to the function is_dir to see if it is a directory. I assume you only want regular files.

That would look something like this:

 <?php
 $file = $row['attach'];
 $exists = file_exists('uploads/'.$file.'') && !is_dir('uploads/'.$file.''); 
 if ($exists) {
   echo $file;
 } else {
   echo 'No file1';
 }      
 ?>

I changed the if statement to use an else clause. It is equivalent to using a second if like you did.

edited Dec 14, 2013 at 9:50

answered Dec 14, 2013 at 9:41

Tim Seguine

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2 Comments

user2957822 Over a year ago

How would I do that? Please.

Tim Seguine Over a year ago

Which part? is_dir?

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