php man page for readdir

READDIR(3)								 1								READDIR(3)

readdir - Read entry from directory handle

SYNOPSIS
       string readdir ([resource  $dir_handle])

DESCRIPTION
	Returns the name of the next entry in the directory. The entries are returned in the order in which they are stored by the filesystem.

PARAMETERS
	      o $dir_handle
		-  The directory handle resource previously opened with opendir(3). If the directory handle is not specified, the last link opened
		by opendir(3) is assumed.

RETURN VALUES
	Returns the entry name on success or FALSE on failure.

       Warning

	      This function may return Boolean FALSE, but may also return a non-Boolean value which evaluates to FALSE. Please read the section on
	      Booleans for more information. Use the === operator for testing the return value of this function.

EXAMPLES
       Example #1

	      List all entries in a directory

	       Please  note the fashion in which readdir(3)'s return value is checked in the examples below. We are explicitly testing whether the
	      return value is identical to (equal to and of the same type as--see Comparison Operators for more information)  FALSE  since  other-
	      wise, any directory entry whose name evaluates to FALSE will stop the loop (e.g. a directory named "0").

	      <?php

	      if ($handle = opendir('/path/to/files')) {
		  echo "Directory handle: $handle
";
		  echo "Entries:
";

		  /* This is the correct way to loop over the directory. */
		  while (false !== ($entry = readdir($handle))) {
		      echo "$entry
";
		  }

		  /* This is the WRONG way to loop over the directory. */
		  while ($entry = readdir($handle)) {
		      echo "$entry
";
		  }

		  closedir($handle);
	      }
	      ?>

       Example #2

	       List all entries in the current directory and strip out . and ..

	      <?php
	      if ($handle = opendir('.')) {
		  while (false !== ($entry = readdir($handle))) {
		      if ($entry != "." && $entry != "..") {
			  echo "$entry
";
		      }
		  }
		  closedir($handle);
	      }
	      ?>

SEE ALSO
       is_dir(3), glob(3), opendir(3), scandir(3).

PHP Documentation Group 														READDIR(3)