Add Files & Folders In PHP ZIP (Basics, Entire Folder, Recursive)

Welcome to a quick tutorial on how to add files and folders with PHP Zip. So you have a project that needs some zip archive action, and no idea where to start?

That should cover the basics, but adding entire folders is a different story – Read on for more examples!

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Source code on GitHub Gist

Just click on “download zip” or do a git clone. I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

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TUTORIAL VIDEO

 

1) BASICS – ADDING FILES & FOLDERS

<?php 
// (A) NEW ZIP ARCHIVE OBJECT
$zip = new ZipArchive();
$zipfile = "demoA.zip";

// (B) OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
if ($zip->open($zipfile, ZipArchive::CREATE) === true) {
  // (B1) ADD FILE
  echo $zip->addFile("readme.txt", "filename-in-zip.txt")
   ? "File added to zip archive" : "Error adding file to zip archive" ;
  
  // (B2) ADD FOLDER
  echo $zip->addEmptyDir("folder")
   ? "Folder added to zip archive" : "Error adding folder to zip archive" ;
  
  // (B3) CLOSE ZIP
  echo $zip->close()
   ? "Zip archive closed" : "Error closing zip archive" ;
}

// (C) FAILED TO OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
else { echo "Failed to open/create $zipfile"; }

Yes, this is kind of an “expanded version” of the introduction – We start by creating a $zip = new ZipArchive() object, then there are only 4 basic zip functions that you should know.

• open(FILE, MODE) This opens a zip file, but take extra note of the possible modes:
  • ZipArchive::CREATE – Creates a new zip archive if not found.
  • ZipArchive::OVERWRITE – Overwrite if there is an existing zip archive.
  • ZipArchive::EXCL – The safer way, which will return an error if there is an existing zip archive.
  • ZipArchive::RDONLY – Readonly.
  • ZipArchive::CHECKONS – Checks the zip archive, throws an error if the checksum fails.
• addFile(TARGET, FILENAME IN ZIP) Self-explanatory, add a file into the zip archive.
• addEmptyDir(FOLDER NAME) Self-explanatory again, add a folder inside the zip archive.
• close() Necessary, properly close, and save the zip file.

 

 

2) APPENDING FILES INTO A FOLDER IN THE ZIP ARCHIVE

<?php 
// (A) LOAD EXISTING ZIP ARCHIVE
$zip = new ZipArchive();
$zipfile = "demoA.zip";
if ($zip->open($zipfile, ZipArchive::CREATE) === true) {
  // (B) APPEND FILE INTO ZIP
  echo $zip->addFile("1-basic.php", "1-basic.php")
   ? "File added to zip archive" : "Error adding file to zip archive" ;

  // (C) ADD FILE INTO FOLDER IN ZIP
  echo $zip->addFile("2-append.php", "folder/2-append.php")
   ? "File added to zip archive" : "Error adding file to zip archive" ;

  // (D) CLOSE ZIP
  echo $zip->close()
   ? "Zip archive closed" : "Error closing zip archive" ;
}

// (E) FAILED TO OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
else { echo "Failed to open/create $zipfile"; }

To append more files into an existing zip archive, we simply open it again and use the addFile() function; To add the file into a folder within the zip archive, we only have to specify it accordingly – addFile(TARGET.FILE, FOLDER-IN-ZIP/SAVE.FILE).

 

 

3) FROM STRING TO ZIP FILE

<?php 
// (A) OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
$zip = new ZipArchive();
$zipfile = "demoA.zip";
if ($zip->open($zipfile, ZipArchive::CREATE) === true) {
  // (B) ADD FROM STRING
  echo $zip->addFromString("string.txt", "This is a string!")
   ? "File added to zip archive" : "Error adding file to zip archive" ;
}

// (C) FAILED TO OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
else { echo "Failed to open/create $zipfile"; }

Just a convenience for you guys who want to archive logs or any content – Use the addFromString() function to save a string into a zip file.

 

 

4) ADD ENTIRE FOLDER INTO ZIP ARCHIVE (USING GLOB)

<?php 
// (A) NEW ZIP ARCHIVE OBJECT
$zip = new ZipArchive();
$zipfile = "demoB.zip";
$tozip = __DIR__ . "/test/";

// (B) OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
if ($zip->open($zipfile, ZipArchive::CREATE) === true) {
  // (B1) ADD ENTIRE FOLDER
  // add all jpg png gif files in "/test/" into the "inside/" folder of the zip archive
  echo $zip->addGlob($tozip . "*.{jpg,png,gif}", GLOB_BRACE, [
    "add_path" => "inside/",
    "remove_all_path" => true
  ]) ? "Folder added to zip" : "Error adding folder to zip" ;

  // (B2) CLOSE ZIP
  echo $zip->close()
   ? "Zip archive closed" : "Error closing zip archive" ;
}

// (C) FAILED TO OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
else { echo "Failed to open/create $zipfile"; }

PHP comes with a very handy glob() function to filter out files/folders in the system. There is also a addGlob() function that we can use in the zip archive – To add an entire folder or filter out certain file extensions only.

Take note though – This will not “dig” into the sub-folders of the specified target folder.

 

 

5) ADD ENTIRE FOLDER INTO ZIP ARCHIVE (USING PATTERN)

<?php 
// (A) NEW ZIP ARCHIVE OBJECT
$zip = new ZipArchive();
$zipfile = "demoC.zip";
$tozip = __DIR__ . "/test/";

// (B) OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
if ($zip->open($zipfile, ZipArchive::CREATE) === true) {
  // (B1) ADD ENTIRE FOLDER
  // add all php txt files in "/test/" into the "inside/" folder of the zip archive
  echo $zip->addPattern("/\.(?:php|txt)$/", $tozip, [
    "add_path" => "inside/",
    "remove_all_path" => true
  ]) ? "Folder added to zip" : "Error adding folder to zip" ;

  // (B2) CLOSE ZIP
  echo $zip->close()
   ? "Zip archive closed" : "Error closing zip archive" ;
}

// (C) FAILED TO OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
else { echo "Failed to open/create $zipfile"; }

This is an alternative to addGlob(), addPattern() uses the “standard regular expression” to filter out files. But take note again, this will not drill into the sub-folders.

 

 

6) RECURSIVELY ADD FOLDER AND SUB-FOLDERS

<?php 
// (A) NEW ZIP ARCHIVE OBJECT
$zip = new ZipArchive();
$zipfile = "demoD.zip";
$tozip = __DIR__ . "/test/";

// (B) OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
if ($zip->open($zipfile, ZipArchive::OVERWRITE | ZipArchive::CREATE) === true) {
  // (B1) RECURSIVE ADD
  function zipall ($folder, $base, $ziparchive) {
    // FOLDER NAME INSIDE ZIP
    $options = ["remove_all_path" => true];
    if ($folder != $base) { 
      $options["add_path"] = substr($folder, strlen($base));
    }

    // ADD CURRENT FOLDER TO ZIP ARCHIVE
    echo $ziparchive->addGlob($folder."*.{jpg,png,gif}", GLOB_BRACE, $options)
     ? "Folder added to zip" : "Error adding folder to zip" ;

    // ADD FOLDERS IN FOLDER
    $folders = glob($folder . "*", GLOB_ONLYDIR);
    if (count($folders)!=0) { foreach ($folders as $f) {
      zipall($f."/", $base, $ziparchive);
    }}
  }
  zipall($tozip, $tozip, $zip);

  // (B2) CLOSE ZIP
  echo $zip->close()
   ? "Zip archive closed" : "Error closing zip archive" ;
}

// (C) FAILED TO OPEN/CREATE ZIP FILE
else { echo "Failed to open/create $zipfile"; } 

Finally, this is sadly the way to zip an entire folder, along with the sub-folders inside… Not going to explain this line-by-line, but essentially, use a recursive function to drill into the sub-folders themselves.

 

 

THE ZIP FUNCTIONS AT A GLANCE

Function	Description	Reference Link
open()	Open a zip archive.	Click Here
addEmptyDir()	Add an empty folder inside the zip archive.	Click Here
addFile()	Add a file into the zip archive.	Click Here
addFromString()	Create a file in the zip archive from a string.	Click Here
addGlob()	Add files into the zip archive that matches a given GLOB pattern.	Click Here
addPattern()	Add files into the zip archive that matches a given pattern.	Click Here
close()	Close and save the zip archive.	Click Here