PHP glob a directory going wrong in some cases why?

Question

I have a mistery with my PHP code going wrong in some cases and I don't understand why. My current code is displaying all photos related to the client by a range.

Example: pick all inside the folder from pictures 300 to 310 and display them.

Example of photos names inside my folder: C20_0385, C20_0386, C20_0389, C20_0400...

Current PHP code: with photos from 385 to 420.

$start = 385:
$end = 420;

$dirname = "smallphotos/$jour_creation - $date_creation/$session/$dossier";

$filenames = glob("$dirname/*{" . implode(",", range($start, $end)) . "}*", GLOB_BRACE);

foreach ($filenames as $filename)
{
echo "<img class=\"img-responsive\" src=\"$filename\" alt=\"$filename\">";
}

That works perfectly and now if I do $start = 385; $end = 450;

It write errors:

Warning: glob(): Pattern exceeds the maximum allowed length of 260 characters
Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach()

If I do from $start = 385; $end = 435; it shows the whole folder currently up to C20_503.JPG

It looks like for small range more or less 40 photos it does the job but for more something is going wrong.

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:58

3

The error states that the glob pattern cannot be longer than 260 characters; you're going to have to use an alternative approach:

$filenames = array();
$dir = opendir( $dirname );
while (false !== ($file = readdir($dir)))
{
    if ( is_file( $file ) && preg_match( "/^.*?_(\d+)/", $file, $m )
      && $m[1] >= $start && $m[1] <= $end
    )
        $filenames[] = "$dirname/$file";
}
closedir($handle);

edited May 23 '17 at 11:58

Community

1
1

answered Oct 27 '15 at 15:55

Kenney

9,003
15
21

Your code is interesting. I will test it this night thank you – BackTrack57 Oct 27 '15 at 16:08

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 27 '15 at 15:54

2

This function range($start, $end) is generating a set of numbers.

When you $start = 385; and $end = 420; the list contains 35 entries

When you $start = 385; and $end = 435; the list contains 50 entries

It is this that is making the Pattern exceeds the maximum allowed length of 260 characters error

You will have to limit the numbers so you dont cause the generated string to exceed the allowed length.

answered Oct 27 '15 at 15:54

RiggsFolly

93,638
21
103
149

Thank you, now I understand what is going on. Those 260 characters isn't it a Windows limitation? I mean if i'm on Linux server this isn't anymore a problem? – BackTrack57 Oct 27 '15 at 16:06
No see this http://serverfault.com/questions/9546/filename-length-limits-on-linux – RiggsFolly Oct 27 '15 at 16:14
Anyway I think its a limit of the `glob` function and nothing to do with a OS filepath limitation. – RiggsFolly Oct 29 '15 at 09:12
Ok this is good to know. Thank you for all your help and informations ! – BackTrack57 Oct 29 '15 at 09:22

PHP glob a directory going wrong in some cases why?

2 Answers2