PHP's file_exists() will not work for me?

Question

For some reason this PHP code below will not work, I can not figure it out.

It is very strange, file_exists does not seem to see that the image does exist, I have checked to make sure a good file path is being inserted into the file_exists function and it is still acting up

If I change file_exists to !file_exists it will return an images that exist and ones that do not exist

define('SITE_PATH2', 'http://localhost/');

$noimg = SITE_PATH2. 'images/userphoto/noimagesmall.jpg';
$thumb_name = 'http://localhost/images/userphoto/1/2/2/59874a886a0356abc1_thumb9.jpg';
if (file_exists($thumb_name)) {
    $img_name = $thumb_name;
}else{
    $img_name = $noimg;
}
echo $img_name;

http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/topic/11197-checking-if-file-exists-on-remote-server/ — tellnobody, Feb 06 '12 at 17:02

score 93 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 10 '18 at 08:50

93

file_exists() needs to use a file path on the hard drive, not a URL. So you should have something more like:

$thumb_name = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . 'images/userphoto/1/2/2/59874a886a0356abc1_thumb9.jpg';
if(file_exists($thumb_name)) {
    some_code
}

http://us2.php.net/file_exists

edited Nov 10 '18 at 08:50

Rusty

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answered Aug 17 '09 at 13:02

AvatarKava

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$_SERVER['CONTEXT_DOCUMENT_ROOT'] would work if your alias is not under your document root, in which case $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] will fail – Gavin Simpson Oct 28 '13 at 07:48
I was aware of the file path/url that gets most people. But if you are still having an issue, don't forget to check basic things, for example, I was using an alias for the path in my framework but forgot to resolve the alias to the actual path in the check. – johnsnails Jul 26 '19 at 13:07

score 10 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 17 '09 at 13:04

10

docs say:

As of PHP 5.0.0, this function can also be used with some URL wrappers. Refer to List of Supported Protocols/Wrappers for a listing of which wrappers support stat() family of functionality.

answered Aug 17 '09 at 13:04

SilentGhost

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I don't believe HTTP/HTTPS are on the list of stat() supported protocols per the docs - just some "goofier" stuff like php://memory. – AvatarKava Aug 17 '09 at 13:08

score 6 · Answer 3 · edited Sep 25 '17 at 12:50

6

file_exists does only work on the local file system.

So try this if you’re using localhost:

$thumb_name = 'images/userphoto/1/2/2/59874a886a0356abc1_thumb9.jpg';
if (file_exists($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].$thumb_name)) {
    $img_name = SITE_PATH2.$thumb_name;
} else {
    $img_name = $noimg;
}

edited Sep 25 '17 at 12:50

Ayaz Shah

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answered Aug 17 '09 at 13:03

Gumbo

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score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 17 '09 at 13:06

1

Have you enabled the option which allows you to use external URLs? You can set it in php.ini:

allow_url_fopen = 1

answered Aug 17 '09 at 13:06

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 17 '09 at 13:07

0

http://php.net/manual/en/function.file-exists.php

did you check the comments below?

Just reading parts of it, but there seem to be several issues.

Caching may be a problem. When opening FTP urls it always returns true (they say in the comments) ...

answered Aug 17 '09 at 13:07

StampedeXV

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score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Dec 29 '12 at 06:48

0

You have to write the file path like "file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/xyz/Desktop/clip_image001.jpg".

edited Dec 29 '12 at 06:48

Asaph

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answered Aug 17 '09 at 13:09

Mannusanghi

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 25 '16 at 12:36

Try Below one. Its working for me

define('SITE_PATH2', 'http://localhost/');
$noimg = SITE_PATH2. 'images/userphoto/noimagesmall.jpg';
$thumb_name = 'http://localhost/images/userphoto/1/2/2/59874a886a0356abc1_thumb9.jpg';

if ($fileopen = @fopen($thumb_name)) {
    $img_name = $thumb_name;
    fclose($fileopen);
}else{
    $img_name = $noimg;
}
echo $img_name;

PHP's file_exists() will not work for me?

7 Answers7

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