php scandir produces extra elements (2 dots) - scandir

Question

Hi,
I have the following files in a directory called content: index.php, page1.php, page2.php and page3.php ONLY.
Then I have this code:
$column = scandir("content");
foreach ($column as $value) {
$stvalue = str_replace(".php", "", $value);
echo "<div>$stvalue</div>";
}
Nevertheless, this is what I get:
<div>.</div>
<div>..</div>
<div>index</div>
<div>page1</div>
<div>page2</div>
<div>page3</div>
Whats with the first 2 elements? I dont have files named like that so I dont get it.
Thank you.

Answer 1

. - is a special directory referencing the current directory.
.. - is also a special directory and its referencing the parent directory.
To remove the special directories I can think of some options:
1.
foreach(glob("*.php") as $filename) {
echo "<div>$filename</div>";
}
2.
$files = array_diff(scandir("content"), array('..', '.'));
foreach($files as $file) { ... }
3.
foreach ($files as $file) {
if($file != '.' and $file != '..') { ... }
}
All of the above are alternatives. You don't need to use scandir() if you use glob() and vice versa. glob() - expects a pattern. It is possible to also provide it with the path like this:
glob("[path]/*.php") - this will list any php file located in path. glob() documentation can be found here PHP - glob()

Answer 2

$column = scandir("content");
foreach ($column as $value) {
$stvalue = str_replace(".php", "", $value);
if($stvalue != '.' || $stvalue != '..') {
echo "<div>$stvalue</div>";
}
}

Answer 3

. refers to the current directory. .. refers to the parent directory.
This is why typing cd .. on a command prompt will change to the parent directory. It's been this way in DOS, every version of Windows, Mac OS X, it's not just Linux and UNIX variants.
If you don't want to display them on your page, just skip the first two entries using array_slice.