Explain dirname() in php

In PHP, the dirname() function is used to retrieve the directory name from a given path. It returns the parent directory of the last component in the specified path. Here's the basic syntax:

php
dirname(path, levels);

• path: Specifies the path for which you want to retrieve the directory name.
• levels (optional): Specifies the number of parent directories to go up from the given path. This is an optional parameter, and by default, it is set to 1.

Here's an example to illustrate how dirname() works:

php
$path = "/var/www/html/index.php";

$directory = dirname($path);


echo $directory; 
// Outputs: /var/www/html

In this example, the $path variable contains the path to a file (index.php). The dirname() function is then used to retrieve the directory name, and the result is stored in the $directory variable, which is then echoed to the screen.

You can also use the optional second parameter, levels, to specify how many levels of parent directories you want to go up from the given path:

php
$path = "/var/www/html/includes/config/settings.php";

$directory = dirname($path, 2);


echo $directory; 
// Outputs: /var/www

In this case, dirname($path, 2) goes up two levels from the given path, so it returns the directory /var/www.

It's important to note that dirname() does not verify whether the path or directory actually exists on the file system. It simply processes the string and returns the parent directory based on the provided path.