filetype

• PHP’s filetype performs a stat on a file and returns a string representing its type.

  PHP

  $type = filetype('/path/to/foobar');
  var_export($type);
  //=> "file"

  The File.ftype class method in Ruby performs the same task.

  Ruby

  type = File.ftype('/path/to/foobar')
  p type
  #=> "file"

  This table shows the strings returned by each version.

  PHP	Ruby
  link	link
  fifo	fifo
  char	characterSpecial
  dir	directory
  block	blockSpecial
  file	file
  socket	No equivalent
  unknown	unknown

  Checking for a Specific File Type

  Perhaps the most common usage of filetype is to check if a path is a specific type, such as this example which checks if the path is a dir.

  PHP

  if (filetype('/path/to/foobar') == 'dir') {
    // ...
  }

  You can do this with the string returned by File.ftype as well but File also provides convenience methods like file? and directory? that make code more readable.

  Ruby

  if File.directory?('/path/to/foobar')
    # ...
  end

  Working with File::Stat Instances

  The File::Stat instance returned by Ruby’s File.stat also supports the methods shown above and more.

  Ruby

  stat = File.stat('/path/to/foobar')
  p stat.ftype
   
  #=> "file"

  Ruby

  stat = File.stat('/path/to/foobar')
  if stat.directory?('/path/to/foobar')
    # ...
  end

  see also

  • is_dir
  • is_file
  • is_link
  • file_exists
  • stat
  • mime_content_type

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