Return function results without echo PHP - php

Question

I am trying to auto populate a set of pages with the content automatically generated by what is contained in a set folder structure.
I have found some code that is most of the way to what I am after however I am trying to modify it so that it is a function that can be called more than once with different folders.
The original code used a simple echo and was not a function.
I have edited it and made it a function but am getting stuck trying to figure out how to have the function return all of the results within the specified folder.
I am using this function:
function getDirContents($dir) {
date_default_timezone_set("Australia/Brisbane");
$hide = ".";
if (!isset($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']) || $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'] == "" || substr($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'],0,2) == ".." || strstr($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], "..")) {
$currdir = "$dir";
} else {
$currdir = urldecode($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']);
}
if ($currdir == "$dir") {
$label = "Root";
} else {
$path = explode('/', $currdir);
$label = $path[count($path)-1];
}
// Opens directory
$myDirectory = opendir($currdir);
// Gets each entry
while ($entryName = readdir($myDirectory)) {
$dirArray[] = $entryName;
}
// Closes directory
closedir($myDirectory);
// Counts elements in array
$indexCount = count($dirArray);
// Sorts files
//sort($dirArray);
// Loops through the array of files
for ($index = 0; $index < $indexCount; $index++) {
// Decides if hidden files should be displayed, based on query above.
if (substr("$dirArray[$index]", 0, 1) != $hide ) {
// Resets Variables
$favicon = "";
$class = "file";
// Gets File Names
$name = $dirArray[$index];
$namehref = ($currdir == "." ? "" : $currdir . '/') . $dirArray[$index];
$fullname = $currdir . '/' . $dirArray[$index];
// Gets Date Modified
$modtime = date("M j Y g:i A", filemtime($fullname));
$timekey = date("YmdHis", filemtime($fullname));
// Separates directories, and performs operations on those directories
if (is_dir($currdir . '/' . $dirArray[$index])) {
$extn = "<Directory>";
$size = "<Directory>";
$sizekey = "0";
$class = "dir";
// Gets favicon.ico, and displays it, only if it exists.
if (file_exists("$namehref/favicon.ico")) {
$favicon = " style='background-image:url($namehref/favicon.ico);'";
$extn = "<Website>";
}
// Cleans up . and .. directories
if($name=="."){$name=". (Current Directory)"; $extn="<System Dir>"; $favicon=" style='background-image:url($namehref/.favicon.ico);'";}
if($name==".."){$name=".. (Parent Directory)"; $extn="<System Dir>";}
if ($currdir == "." && $dirArray[$index] == "..")
$namehref = "";
elseif ($dirArray[$index] == "..") {
$dirs = explode('/', $currdir);
unset($dirs[count($dirs) - 1]);
$prevdir = implode('/', $dirs);
$namehref = '?' . $prevdir;
}
else
$namehref = '?' . $namehref;
}
// File-only operations
else {
// Gets file extension
$extn = pathinfo($dirArray[$index], PATHINFO_EXTENSION);
// Prettifies file type
switch ($extn){
case "png": $extn="PNG Image"; break;
case "jpg": $extn="JPEG Image"; break;
case "jpeg": $extn="JPEG Image"; break;
case "svg": $extn="SVG Image"; break;
case "gif": $extn="GIF Image"; break;
case "ico": $extn="Windows Icon"; break;
case "txt": $extn="Text File"; break;
case "log": $extn="Log File"; break;
case "htm": $extn="HTML File"; break;
//case "html": $extn="HTML File"; break;
case "xhtml": $extn="HTML File"; break;
case "shtml": $extn="HTML File"; break;
case "php": $extn="PHP Script"; break;
case "js": $extn="Javascript File"; break;
case "css": $extn="Stylesheet"; break;
case "pdf": $extn="PDF Document"; break;
case "xls": $extn="Spreadsheet"; break;
case "xlsx": $extn="Spreadsheet"; break;
case "doc": $extn="Microsoft Word Document"; break;
case "docx": $extn="Microsoft Word Document"; break;
//case "zip": $extn="ZIP Archive"; break;
case "htaccess": $extn="Apache Config File"; break;
case "exe": $extn="Windows Executable"; break;
default: if($extn!=""){$extn=strtoupper($extn);} else{$extn="Unknown";} break;
}
// Gets and cleans up file size
$size = pretty_filesize($fullname);
$sizekey = filesize($fullname);
}
$row = "<td><a href='$namehref'>$name ($extn, $size)</a> </td>";
return $row;
}
}
}
And then calling it with a variable like so
$Term1 = getDirContents('myFolder/Structure/');
echo $term1;
This prints out the first file in the folder however I can not for the life of me figure out how to get it to list them all.
My understanding is that when you use return in a function it stops the function, shouldn't the for loop it is within re-run however?
I feel like there is something really basic I am missing here so your help is much appreciated.

Answer 1

A very simple fix for this would be to change how you assign the table row strings to append the next row to the holding variable $row (with .=), and then move the return outside the loop.
I'm not going to copy the whole of your code, but the final few lines would look like this;
$row .= "<td><a href='$namehref'>$name ($extn, $size)</a> </td>";
// deleted 'return $row;' and moved to below
}
}
return $row;
}
Hope this helps.
PS: As we are appending strings to $row, it is good practice to initialize it at the top of your function in order to ensure there isn't a value for $row already in memory. To do this, simply write $row = ''; (ie, set it to a blank string).