Error on opendir

Blarney

I'm trying to build a script to delete directories and getting the following error

Warning: opendir(temporary) [function.opendir]: failed to open dir: No such file or directory in /home/www/blone/files/delete_dir.php on line 12
Deleting Directory: temporary

This is likely due to my inability to correctly define the directory. I call the script with a URL that ends ?directoryz=/home/www/blone/files and I pick it up in my delete_dir.php file as follows:

<?php 
$directoryz = $_GET['directoryz'];
if ($directoryz == '')  {
echo "There is no directory defined. Go back and specify a directory to delete"; 
} 
else { ?>
<?php
echo ($directoryz);

function deleteDir($directoryz) {
 // open the directory
 $dhandle = opendir($directoryz);
 if ($dhandle) {
 // loop through it
 while (false !== ($fname = readdir($dhandle))) {
...

In my newbie mind, I assume the $_GET passes the directory string to $directory and my "echo" test appears to confirm that.

But then I guess it doesn't like my attempt to use that string in my opendir($directoryz) line. I've tried to make other variations unsuccessfully.

I didn't post the entire script due for the sake of brevity but can do so if that helps. I appreciate any help.

Jim

sneakyimp

Firstly, you have a huge security problem with your script. You are basically enabling any visitor to that page to delete any directory that your webserver has permission to change.

Aside from that, your problem seems to be that you are specifying a directory that doesn't exist. You might want to check that the directory exists using [man]is_dir[/man] before you try and delete it. If you think you are specifying a directory that does exist and your script doesn't see it, then the problem is likely that you are not properly specifying the directory name so that the script can find it. Keep in mind that your script looks for these directories where they live. If my script is at /home/user/myScript.php and i say delete 'temp' then it will be looking for /home/user/temp.

Blarney

Thanks for the reply. Regarding the security, this script will be admin only and password protected. Right now, I've just stripped it down to try to find out why I'm not able to get it to work.

I agree that it may not be defining the directory path which is why I am running the echo $directoryz to make sure the variable is correct. It shows /home/www/blone/files as the directory just above the error (I snipped that out of the error I posted). So if $directoryz does exist (and it does), and if I try to delete it, why would it error out saying the directory doesn't exist.

I got a glimmer of hope in your clue that maybe it is because I'm calling the directory by its full absolute path so I changed it to the relative path, deletable_dir or /deletable_dir but still I get the same error.

Any other suggestions or am I missing something obvious (very likely).

Thanks!

sneakyimp

If the directory has any contents, you probably won't be able to delete it. Also if you don't have permission, the delete will fail.