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# XXXVIII. Fileinfo Functions

# Introduction

The functions in this module try to guess the content type and encoding of a file by looking for certain magic byte sequences at specific positions within the file. While this is not a bullet proof approach the heuristics used do a very good job.

# Requirements

`magic_open` library is needed to build this extension.

# Installation

Information for installing this PECL extension may be found in the manual chapter titled Installation of PECL extensions. Additional information such as new releases, downloads, source files, maintainer information, and a CHANGELOG, can be located here: http://pecl.php.netfileinfo

# Runtime Configuration

This extension has no configuration directives defined in `php.ini`.

# Resource Types

There is one resource used in Fileinfo extension: a magic database descriptor returned by finfo_open().

# Predefined Constants

The constants below are defined by this extension, and will only be available when the extension has either been compiled into PHP or dynamically loaded at runtime.

`FILEINFO_NONE` (integer)

  No special handling.

`FILEINFO_SYMLINK` (integer)

  Follow symlinks.

`FILEINFO_MIME` (integer)

  Return a mime string, instead of a textual description.

`FILEINFO_COMPRESS` (integer)

  Decompress compressed files.

`FILEINFO_DEVICES` (integer)

  Look at the contents of blocks or character special devices.

`FILEINFO_CONTINUE` (integer)

  Return all matches, not just the first.

`FILEINFO_PRESERVE_ATIME` (integer)

  If possible preserve the original access time.

`FILEINFO_RAW` (integer)

  Don't translate unprintable characters to a `\ooo` octal representation.

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