CODEWITHSUNDEEP
php
Whitey
Whitey

Reputation: 143

PHP != and == operators

This has boggled me for a while. I am running through a directory and echo'ing out its contents, and I want to exclude the ".." and "." files.

Now, this code works:

if ($files = scandir("temp/"))
{
    foreach ($files as $file)
    {
        if ($file == ".." OR $file == ".")
        {
        }
        else {
            echo $file;
            echo "<br>";
        }
    }
}

But this doesn't...

if ($files = scandir("temp/"))
{
    foreach ($files as $file)
    {
        if ($file != ".." OR $file != ".")
        {
            echo $file;
            echo "<br>";
        }
    }
}

For obvious reasons the second lump of code is more what I want, because I really hate having the true statement do nothing.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 3530

Answers (7)

Peter Bailey
Peter Bailey

Reputation: 105908

Alternatively, you could always use DirectoryIterator and specifically its isDot method.

Upvotes: 1

meder omuraliev
meder omuraliev

Reputation: 186572

$file != ".." evaluates to true. Instead, simply use an AND operator:

if ( $file != '..' && $file != '.' ) { }

However, I would use DirectoryIterator instead:

foreach (new DirectoryIterator('temp') as $fileInfo) {
    if ($fileInfo->isDot())
        continue;
    echo $fileInfo->getFilename() . "<br>\n";
}

Upvotes: 2

LiraNuna
LiraNuna

Reputation: 67261

You have to negate the entire expression, just like -(-x + 2) in math negates everything:

if ($file == ".." OR $file == ".")

Is not the negation of

if ($file != ".." OR $file != ".")

Because you didn't negate the OR. The opposite of OR is AND, resulting a:

if ($file != ".." AND $file != ".")

Upvotes: 2

schneck
schneck

Reputation: 10827

This:

    if ($file != ".." OR $file != ".")

should be:

    if ($file != ".." && $file != ".")

Upvotes: 1

Franz
Franz

Reputation: 11553

If you negate a condition consisting of two single conditions and a conjunction ("and" or "or"), you need to negate each condition separately and use the other conjunction.

So try this instead:

if ($file != ".." AND $file != ".")

Upvotes: 22

Ewan Todd
Ewan Todd

Reputation: 7312

This is one of deMorgan's Laws. 

not (A OR B) = (not A) AND (not B)

The change you are making is a refactoring called Reverse Conditional

Upvotes: 9

Austin Salonen
Austin Salonen

Reputation: 50225

They're not opposites...

Check out de Morgan's laws.

if($file != ".." OR $file != ".")

should be

if($file != ".." AND $file != ".")

Upvotes: 4

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