PHP dir() Function – Returns a Directory Instance

The dir() function in PHP returns a Directory class instance, allowing object‑oriented access to a filesystem directory specified by the $directory argument.

Parameters:

directory – the path of the directory to open (string).

context – optional stream context resource (available since PHP 5.0.0).

Return value:

On success, a Directory object.

If a parameter error occurs, null .

For other errors, false .

Example usage:

<?php
$d = dir("/etc/php5");
echo "Handle: " . $d->handle . "\n";
echo "Path: " . $d->path . "\n";
while (false !== ($entry = $d->read())) {
    echo $entry . "\n";
}
$d->close();
?>

The script prints the directory handle resource ID and the path, then lists each entry in the directory.