PHP array as variable for diffent array? - php

Question

How can I load multiple vars each containing a single path into an array variable?
$dir1 = "/path/1/";
$dir2 = "/path/2/";
$dir3 = array($dir1, $dir2);
$directories = array($dir3);
$count = 0;
foreach ($directories as $dir) {
$files = glob("{$dir}*.gz") ?: array();
$count += count($files);
}
When I print $dir3 I get both paths as an array but I cannot get the $dir3 var for $directories to work. I have tried looking for answers but I am unable to find similar use cases. The documentation on php.net is also unclear to me. I'm still new to PHP and programming in general.
I want to figure out how I can have multiple paths in a single var but still have foreach execute on each path in the var.

Answer 1

$dir3 already is an array containing your directories.
By doing $directories = array($dir3);, you're therefore creating an array of arrays.
So you could simply replace your code with:
$dir1 = "/path/1/";
$dir2 = "/path/2/";
$directories = array($dir1, $dir2); // or $directories = [$dir1, $dir2];
$count = 0;
foreach ($directories as $dir) {
$files = glob("{$dir}*.gz");
$count += count($files);
}
However, as #MarkusZeller has pointed out, you can also pass a comma separated list of directories directly to glob, using the GLOB_BRACE flag:
$dir1 = "/path/1/";
$dir2 = "/path/2/";
$commaSeparatedDirectories = implode(',', [$dir1, $dir2]);
$count = count(glob("{{$commaSeparatedDirectories}}*.gz", GLOB_BRACE));