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# file_exists

(PHP 3, PHP 4, PHP 5)

file_exists -- Checks whether a file or directory exists

## Description

bool file_exists ( string filename )

Returns `TRUE` if the file or directory specified by filename exists; `FALSE` otherwise.

On windows, use `//computername/share/filename` or `\\computername\share\filename` to check files on network shares.

Example 1. Testing whether a file exists
`<?php $filename = '/path/to/foo.txt'; if (file_exists($filename)) { echo "The file $filename exists"; } else { echo "The file $filename does not exist"; } ?>`

> Note: The results of this function are cached. See clearstatcache() for more details.

> Tip: As of PHP 5.0.0 this function can also be used with some URL wrappers. Refer to Appendix M for a listing of which wrappers support stat() family of functionality.

Warning
This function returns `FALSE` for files inaccessible due to safe mode restrictions. However these files still can be included if they are located in safe_mode_include_dir.

See also is_readable(), is_writable(), is_file() and file().

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