ZIP file not being created, but no error gets triggered

Question

I'm using ZipArchive:

function zip_dir($source, $target){

    $iterator = new \RecursiveIteratorIterator(new \RecursiveDirectoryIterator($source, \FilesystemIterator::SKIP_DOTS), \RecursiveIteratorIterator::SELF_FIRST);

    $zip = new \ZipArchive();
    if($zip->open($target, \ZipArchive::CREATE) !== true)
      exit('cannot create zip');

    foreach($iterator as $file){
      $zip->addFile($file);
      print $file . '<br>';
    }


    $zip->close();
    return $target;
}


zip_dir(__DIR__ . '/test/', __DIR__ . '/testarchive.zip');

I can see the list of files, but in the end I cannot find the zip file that's supposed to be created. And I get no errors / exceptions from ZipArchive...

edit:

I've added print $zip->getStatusString(); after $zip->close();

and it prints :Can't open file: Permission denied". What does that mean? I know for sure every directory is writable, bc I can create new files with PHP inside them...

edit 2:

if(is_writable(dirname($target)))
  print 'target dir is writable...';

it prints that, so the dir is writable. Feels like I'm in the twilight zone...

Does the user PHP is running under have permission to create files in the directory in question? — Mitch Satchwell, Oct 15 '12 at 11:56
yes, I'm running "wamp" on localhost. it has permission to do anything.. — Alex, Oct 15 '12 at 11:56
that one returns false.. but what should I do so it returns true? — Alex, Oct 15 '12 at 12:03

score 11 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 23 '19 at 19:26

11

Two Comments From php.net

If you're adding multiple files to a zip and your $zip->close() call is returning FALSE, ensure that all the files you added actually exist. Apparently $zip->addFile() returns TRUE even if the file doesn't actually exist. It's a good idea to check each file with file_exists() or is_readable() before calling $zip->addFile() on it.

and

Don't forget to check the zip isn't empty, folks - otherwise the zip won't be created at all, and the server will issue no warning!

edited Dec 23 '19 at 19:26

Mohammad Fanni

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answered Oct 15 '12 at 12:07

simply-put

1,068
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how to check if zip file is empty? – Alex Oct 15 '12 at 13:16
the numFiles property of $zip is 9. I guess that means its not empty – Alex Oct 15 '12 at 13:17
and "status" is 5, "statusSys" is 2 – Alex Oct 15 '12 at 13:18
Is 9 the same as the number of rows you print? – Mitch Satchwell Oct 15 '12 at 15:05
yes but I found the error, see my edit. But now I can't figure out why it says there are permission problems because I know PHP has write and read access to that directory... – Alex Oct 15 '12 at 15:22
I think it may be adding two directories `.` and `..` totally guess. – simply-put Oct 15 '12 at 16:20
1

ok i did it in the end. it seems that empty directories trigger this error :| – Alex Oct 15 '12 at 19:05
I had a problem when adding files and deleting them before closing the archive. Lesson learned: don't delete the files you are adding to the archive before calling close() !!! – ermannob May 23 '14 at 10:18
1

Also when iterating folders, make sure to exclude the first two items in every folder (`.` and `..`). – Bugs Bunny Jan 22 '15 at 09:00

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 15 '12 at 15:19

Sounds like you have a permission issue, either with writing to the zip file, or reading the files it is zipping.

I would use a combination of file_exists, is_readable, and is_writable to figure out which of these is causing the problem.

function zip_dir($source, $target){

    $iterator = new \RecursiveIteratorIterator(new \RecursiveDirectoryIterator($source, \FilesystemIterator::SKIP_DOTS), \RecursiveIteratorIterator::SELF_FIRST);

    $zip = new \ZipArchive();
    if($zip->open($target, \ZipArchive::CREATE) !== true)
      exit('cannot create zip');

    foreach($iterator as $file){
      if (!file_exists($file)) { die($file.' does not exist'); }
      if (!is_readable($file)) { die($file.' not readable'); }
      $zip->addFile($file);
      print $file . '<br>';
    }


    $zip->close();
    return $target;
}

if (!is_writable(__DIR__)) { die('directory not writable'); }
zip_dir(__DIR__ . '/test/', __DIR__ . '/testarchive.zip');

Bugs Bunny · Answer 3 · 2015-02-16T04:48:05.483

1

Make sure that:

All files added actually exist (check each file with file_exists() and is_readable() before calling $zip->addFile()).
When iterating folder, exclude . and ...
There is at least one file to zip ($zip['numFiles'] > 0).
Calling $zip->close() returns TRUE.

edited Feb 16 '15 at 04:48

answered Jan 21 '15 at 08:57

Bugs Bunny

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ZIP file not being created, but no error gets triggered

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