PHP Filesystem fileinode() Function

---

---

The PHP Filesystem fileinode() function function can return the inode of a specified file. This function returns the inode number of the file on success or false on failure.

The result of this function can be cached, and we can use clearstatcache() function to clear the cache. This function can't be run on Windows System.

An inode is a data structure on a filesystem that holds information about a file or directory.

Syntax

Below is the syntax of the PHP Filesystem fileinode() function −

int fileinode ( string $filename )

Return Value

It returns the inode number of the file on success or FALSE on failure.

PHP Version

The fileinode() function was first introduced as part of core PHP 4 and work well with the PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8.

Example

In the below example we are going to show the basic usage of the PHP Filesystem fileinode() function to get the inode number of a file.

<?php
   //File path
   $filename = "/PhpProject/sample.txt";
   
   //Use fileinode() function for the file
   echo fileinode($filename);
?>

Output

This will produce the following result −

12666373952223775

Example

This example shows us how we can get the inode number of a file which is located in the current directory. So the code prints the inode number or an error message if the file cannot be found.

<?php
   $filename = 'myfile.txt';
   $inode = fileinode($filename);

   if ($inode !== false) {
      echo "The inode number of 'myfile.txt' is: $inode";
   } else {
      echo "Could not retrieve inode number for 'myfile.txt'.";
   }
?> 

Output

This will generate the below result −

The inode number of 'myfile.txt' is: 11033122

Example

This PHP example shows us how you can use fileinode() function to use an absolute path to get the inode number of a file.

<?php
   // Absolute path to the file
   $filename = '/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/mac/myfile.txt';
   $inode = fileinode($filename);

   if ($inode !== false) {
      echo "The inode number of '/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/mac/myfile.txt' is: $inode";
   } else {
      echo "Could not retrieve inode number for '/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/mac/myfile.txt'.";
   }
?> 

Output

This will create the below outcome −

The inode number of '/Applications/XAMPP/xamppfiles/htdocs/mac/myfile.txt' is: 11033122

Example

This PHP example shows us how you can use fileinode() function to get the inode number of a directory instead of a file.

<?php
   // Path to the directory
   $directory = '/var/www/html';
   $inode = fileinode($directory);

   if ($inode !== false) {
      echo "The inode number of the directory '/var/www/html' is: $inode";
   } else {
      echo "Could not retrieve inode number for the directory '/var/www/html'.";
   }
?> 

Output

This will lead to the following outcome −

The inode number of the directory '/var/www/html' is: 10105201

Note

• The fileinode() function can be used to get the inode number of both files and directories.
• Inode numbers are unique within a filesystem. The inode count of files on different Filesystems may be the same.
• Verify that you have the required permission to access the file or directory.

Summary

The fileinode() function in PHP is a useful tool for determining the inode number of a file or directory.