PHP Checking if a file exists in a directory [closed] - php

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I'm creating a file uploader, and it checks to see if a file exists or not in a directory. If it does exist, I must come up with a new name for the file (I.E file.txt -> file1.txt). Not sure why, but it keeps on generating errors. Here's my code. Hopefully it isn't something painfully obvious.
$directory = "files/";
$name = $_FILES['filename']['name'];
$valid_name = true;
$counter = 0;
if(file_exists($directory . $_FILES['filename']['name'])) {
$valid_name = false;
}
while(!$valid_name){
$name = $_FILES['filename']['name'] . $counter;
if(file_exists($directory . $name)){
counter++;
}
}

Answer 1

Your code is wrong. This is much simpler and easier to understand.
$directory = "files/";
$counter = 0;
$name = $_FILES['filename']['name'];
while(file_exists($directory . $name)){
$counter++;
$name = $_FILES['filename']['name'] . $counter;
}
Also your code does not generate file.txt -> file1.txt but file.txt -> file.txt1 so does this one. To generate it properly play with the extension and the name.

Answer 2

You forgot to change the value of $valid_name. Anyway, a simpler way to do that is just:
$directory = "files/";
$counter = "";
while (file_exists($directory . $_FILES['filename']['name'] . $counter)) {
$counter++;
}
// Here the name is: $directory . $_FILES['filename']['name'] . $counter
Consider that after the first time $counter++ is executed, it becomes "1", and then 2, etc...
A smaller code, just for fun:
$c = "";
while (file_exists("files/".$_FILES['filename']['name'].$c)) $c++;
// Here the name is: "files/".$_FILES['filename']['name'].$c

Answer 3

You forgot to name your variable correctly when using it:
$counter++;
// not counter++ but $counter++;

Answer 4

The code has a number of problems, which I'll list followed by a cleanup.
Syntax error: counter is not prefixed with a $ sign
Styling: your code isn't formatted nicely and consequently you'll have a harder time identifying problems.
Logical flow: You're only checking for the existence of a single filename, not others.
You're not handling file extensions.
Try something like this:
$directory = "files/";
$path = pathinfo( $directory . $_FILES['filename']['name'] );
$name = $path['filename'];
$counter = 0;
while ( file_exists( $path['dirname'] . $path['basename'] ) ) {
$counter++;
$path['filename'] = $name . $counter;
}
$outputFile = $path['dirname'] . $path['filename'] . '.' . $path['extension'];