php array_merge

Question

I am getting an error on this line:

$ret=array_merge($ret,preg_ls($path."/".$e,$rec,$pat));

Error is: array_merge() Argument #2 is not an array

I dont know know to solve this.

Thank you.

function preg_ls($path=".", $rec=false, $pat="/.*/") {
    // it's going to be used repeatedly, ensure we compile it for speed.
    $pat=preg_replace("|(/.*/[^S]*)|s", "\\1S", $pat);
    //echo($pat);
    //Remove trailing slashes from path
    while (substr($path,-1,1)=="/") $path=substr($path,0,-1);
    //also, make sure that $path is a directory and repair any screwups
    if (!is_dir($path)) $path=dirname($path);
    //assert either truth or falsehoold of $rec, allow no scalars to mean truth
    if ($rec!==true) $rec=false;
    //get a directory handle
    $d=dir($path);
    //initialise the output array
    $ret=Array();
    //loop, reading until there's no more to read
    while (false!==($e=$d->read())) {
        //Ignore parent- and self-links
        if (($e==".")||($e=="..")) continue;
        //If we're working recursively and it's a directory, grab and merge
        if ($rec && is_dir($path."/".$e)) {
            $ret=array_merge($ret,preg_ls($path."/".$e,$rec,$pat));
            continue;
        }
        //If it don't match, exclude it
        if (!preg_match($pat,$e)) continue;
        //In all other cases, add it to the output array
        //echo($path."/".$e."<br/>");
        $ret[]=$path."/".$e;
    }
    //finally, return the array
    echo json_encode($ret);
}

Answer 1

An Array in PHP is not JSON. It's an array. Simply return $ret;

You should return the array if you are expecting an array, not a string (as json_encode gives).

Also, you are using echo , not return . echo prints to either stdout or the HTML body, depending on the PHP environment (though they are one and the same, just with redirects and a different environment to handle it).

return will cause a function to pass its return value to the caller, as expected (usually into a variable or another function); without a return value, the function will always return NULL .