Directories Lister

Directories can have files and/or subdirectories. Subdirectories can also have files and/or subdirectories.

The directories listing script presented further below needs little explanation. It lists all directories and subdirectories that a directory has (referred to as the "starting directory" in this article). If the starting directory is the document root, all directories for the website are listed.

The software would be used by those who have large websites.

I use it for providing a list of directories whenever I need it. As an example, if a client's server has suffered a hack, a list of directories to inspect can come in very handy.

Generally, however, I use the code from the directories listing script as a base for finding certain types of files. The types of files to find might be images, or files that are larger than a certain size.

Here is the directories listing script. No customizations are required.

<?php
/*
Directories Lister
Version 1.0
August 4, 2020
Will Bontrager Software LLC
https://www.willmaster.com/
*/
$DirList = array();
GetListOfDirectories(__DIR__);
echo '<pre>',print_r($DirList,true),'</pre>';
function GetListOfDirectories($dir)
{
   global $DirList;
   foreach(scandir($dir)as$d)
   {
      $realdir = "$dir/$d";
      if($d=='.' or $d=='..') { continue; }
      if(! is_dir($realdir) ) { continue; }
      array_push($DirList,$realdir);
      GetListOfDirectories($realdir);
   }
}
?>

Save the source code as dirlister.php or other suitable *.php file name. Upload it to your server, into the directory that will be the list's starting directory. To use the software, types its URL into your browser.

Directories Lister will display the list of directories in the browser. The page can be consulted right there, saved as a web page, or copied and pasted into another document.

(This content first appeared in Possibilities newsletter.)

Will Bontrager