PHP hidden directories - Windows -

i'm attempting add feature our intranet, allow users log onto intranet, , access documents stored within windows network san.

at moment, i've retrieved file , folder names within specified users 'my documents'.

i'm having difficulty removing hidden files , folders array. @ moment, can remove folders , files starting ..

however on windows, they're being marked 'hidden' in properties. i've googled , found lots of resources how mark file hidden, , how hide files start ., none on how remove hidden windows files / folders. 1 post on stackoverflow mentions use directoryiterator, @ moment, haven't explained @ how use check if files marked hidden.

we have on 1000 users, approximately 500mb - 1gb of documents, multiple layers of directories, needs relatively fast.

for clarification: during recursive iteration on windows system, how can find out whether directory hidden or not, without relying on prepended . symbol?

ok, worked out, exec() function, use care! i'm using codeigniter, i've modified directory_helper.php function slightly, installed on windows box, it'll need check hidden files, should work non-codeigniter sites:

function directory_map($source_dir, $directory_depth = 0, $hidden = false) {     if ($fp = @opendir($source_dir))     {         if(!$hidden)         {             $exclude = array();             exec('dir "' . $source_dir . '" /ah /b', $exclude);         }          $filedata   = array();         $new_depth  = $directory_depth - 1;         $source_dir = rtrim($source_dir, directory_separator).directory_separator;          while (false !== ($file = readdir($fp)))         {             // remove '.', '..', , hidden files [optional]             if ( ! trim($file, '.') or ($hidden == false && $file[0] == '.') or ($hidden === false && in_array($file, $exclude)))             {                 continue;             }              if (($directory_depth < 1 or $new_depth > 0) && @is_dir($source_dir.$file))             {                 $filedata[$file] = directory_map($source_dir.$file.directory_separator, $new_depth, $hidden);             }             else             {                 $filedata[] = $file;             }         }          closedir($fp);         return $filedata;     }      return false; } 

this scanned 2207 files, , 446 folders in approx 11 seconds (ages know, best do). tested on 500 folders , 200 files, , did in around 3 seconds.

its recursive function scan each non-hidden directory. first thing scan current directory hidden files , folders using exec('dir *directory* /ah /b') function.

it store results in array , make sure current file/directory being read isn't in array.