search for last file, and read last 20

[Anon]

I know exactly what I want to do, but I'm not exactly sure how to go about it.

I run a game server and halflife generates log files. I need to open the last log file and only read lines that do not begin with a capitol "L " (there is a space after the L) the lines that don't begin with L is the chat that goes on inside the game. i want to print this to a website.

the files are named like this:
040022.log
040023.log

how do i make php read the directory for the last filename of the last log created?

after that i can pull each line of the file into an array with
$array=file(020023.log);
and only echo the lines that do not start with L using preg_match.

so it's a 2 part question:
1. how do i have php find the name of the last file created within a directory.

2. after i get the name of the file, is the way i mentioned to print the lines i want the best way to go about it?

if you've read this far, then i thank you much =)
-mike

[van__]

Well here's how you get the last modified file...

<?
$dir = '/path/to/wherever/';
chdir("$dir");
$dir = opendir(".");

while($file=readdir($dir)){
if(!preg_match('/^{(.|..)$/',$file)){}
$time = filemtime($file);
$dirList[$time] = $file;
}
}

//get the last file modified
$last = array_pop($dirList);

// grab your file...
$lines = file($last);

?>

personally, the idea of looping through each line with a preg_match sounds bad, especially when dealing with larger files.
Try fopening the file and using a preg_match_all. That should be more efficient.

[Anon]

thanks a lot.. i'll start working on that!