cakephp - scandir failed to open dir error - php

Question

I'm tryin to get a list of controller files
$files = scandir(APP_DIR . '/Controller/');
...but I get this error:
Warning (2): scandir(src/Controller/): failed to open dir: No such file or directory [APP/Controller/HomeController.php, line 13]
... when i try to remove some file names from the list:
$files = array_diff( $files, array('.','..','Component','AppController.php','HomeController.php'));
... i get this error:
Warning (2): array_diff() [function.array-diff]: Argument #1 is not an array [APP/Controller/HomeController.php, line 23]
my entire class looks this:
<?php
namespace App\Controller;
use ReflectionClass;
use ReflectionMethod;
class HomeController extends AppController{
public function index(){
/**
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/20963786/how-do-i-get-a-list-of-all-functions-inside-a-controller-in-cakephp
* http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25892594/list-all-controllers-actions-in-cakephp-3
*/
$files = scandir(APP_DIR . '/Controller/');
$controllers = [];
$ignoreFilesList = [
'.',
'..',
'Component',
'AppController.php',
'HomeController.php'
];
$files = array_diff( $files, array('.','..','Component','AppController.php','HomeController.php'));
$className = '';
$class = null;
$ignoreList2 = ['beforeFilter', 'afterFilter', 'initialize', 'delete'];
echo is_array ( (array)$files );// returns 0 without cast
foreach( (array)$files as $file){
$controller = str_replace('Controller', '', explode('.', $file)[0]);
array_push($controllers, $controller); //str_replace('Controller', '', $controller));
//dump( $controller );
/* controller methods */
$this->$className = 'App\\Controller\\'.$controller.'Controller';
$this->$class = new ReflectionClass($this->$className);
$methods = $this->$class->getMethods(ReflectionMethod::IS_PUBLIC);
echo "<ul><li>$controller</li>";
echo "<ol>";
foreach($methods as $method){
if ( isset( $method->name )){
if($method->class == $className && !in_array($method->name, $ignoreList2))
{
$controllers[$controller][]= $method->name;
echo "<li>$method->name</li>";
}
}
}
echo "</ol>";
echo "</ul>";
}
$this->set('allControllers', $controllers );
}
}

Answer 1

Only use PHP: scandir with a full path.
While the PHP documentation says nothing about it, scandir generally does not play nice with relative paths. (Though there are cases where relative paths can work perfectly fine.)
Path arg is a relative path here
As APP_DIR stores a single directory name, and not a path, scandir will attempt to access src/Controller/, which may not relative to the script currently running.
$files = scandir(APP_DIR . '/Controller/');
Solution 1: Use CakePhp: constant APP to build the full path
Thanks to ndm for reminding us of the APP constant in his comment on the OP. APP stores an absolute path to your application directory, including a trailing slash.
$path = APP .'Controller/';
$files = scandir($path);
Solution 2: Use PHP: $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] to build a full path.
$path = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/'. APP_DIR .'/Controller/';
$files = scandir($path);
Alternatively, you may be able to use PHP: Realpath to retrieve the full path. *reminder: working directory will vary depending on the script running.