PHP script to remove dot files from Linux directory

Question

I have been working on a project that involves a step, during which the script needs to automatically remove a certain directory in Linux ( and all its contents ).

I am currently using the following code to do that:

# Perform a recursive removal of the obsolete folder
$dir_to_erase = $_SESSION['path'];
function removeDirectory($dir_to_erase) {
    $files = glob($dir_to_erase . '/*');
    foreach ($files as $file) {
        is_dir($file) ? removeDirectory($file) : unlink($file);
    }
    rmdir($dir_to_erase);
    return; 
}

Where $_SESSION['path'] is the folder to erase. Been working like a charm, but I recently had to add a .htaccess file to the folder, and I noticed the script stopped working correctly ( it keeps removing the rest of the files fine, but not the .htaccess files ).

Can anyone point me as to what I should add to the code include the hidden dot files in the removal process?

Answer 1

simply, you can rely on DirectoryIterator

The DirectoryIterator class provides a simple interface for viewing the contents of filesystem directories.

function removeDirectory($dir_to_erase) {
    $files = new DirectoryIterator($dir_to_erase);
    foreach ($files as $file) {
        // check if not . or ..
        if (!$file->isDot()) {
            $file->isDir() ? removeDirectory($file->getPathname()) : unlink($file->getPathname());
        }
    }
    rmdir($dir_to_erase);
    return;
}

there are lot of features there you may make use of them, as check the owner which is pretty useful to make sure not to remove critical file.