Get last modified file in a directory

Question

Is there a way to select only the last file in a directory (with the extensions jpg|png|gif?)

Or do I have to parse the entire directory and check using

Answer 1

I don't remember having ever seen a function that would do what you ask.

So, I think you will have to go through all (at least jpg/png/gif) files, and search for the last modification date of each of them.

Here's a possible solution, based on the DirectoryIterator class of the SPL :

$path = null;
$timestamp = null;

$dirname = dirname(__FILE__);
$dir = new DirectoryIterator($dirname);
foreach ($dir as $fileinfo) {
    if (!$fileinfo->isDot()) {
        if ($fileinfo->getMTime() > $timestamp) {
            // current file has been modified more recently
            // than any other file we've checked until now
            $path = $fileinfo->getFilename();
            $timestamp = $fileinfo->getMTime();
        }
    }
}

var_dump($path);

Of course, you could also do the same thing with readdir() and other corresponding functions.