File Directory Php

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  4. Working with files - get a random file from a directory
This is great for displaying a random image, or random include()-ing a text file.
function getRandomFile($start_dir)
{
/*
returns the name of one random file from within a directory
*/
chdir($start_dir);
$dir = opendir('.');
while (($myfile = readdir($dir)) !==false)
{
if ($myfile != '.' && $myfile != '..' && is_file($myfile) && $myfile !
= 'resource.frk')
{
$files[] = $myfile;
}
}
closedir($dir);
chdir('../');
srand ((float) microtime() * 10000000);
$file = array_rand($files);
return $files[$file];
}
?>
Example 1: random image:
$imagesDir = 'images/something';
$imageURL = getRandomFile($imagesDir);
$image
echo "";
?>
Example 2: random include():
$includeDir = 'randomquotes';
$quoteFile = getRandomFile($includeDir);
include("{$includeDir}/{$quoteFile}");
?>