+ +
+

Zip Encoding Class

+

CodeIgniter’s Zip Encoding Class permits you to create Zip archives. +Archives can be downloaded to your desktop or saved to a directory.

+ +
+

Using the Zip Encoding Class

+
+

Initializing the Class

+

Like most other classes in CodeIgniter, the Zip class is initialized in +your controller using the $this->load->library function:

+
$this->load->library('zip');
+
+
+

Once loaded, the Zip library object will be available using:

+
$this->zip
+
+
+
+
+

Usage Example

+

This example demonstrates how to compress a file, save it to a folder on +your server, and download it to your desktop.

+
$name = 'mydata1.txt';
+$data = 'A Data String!';
+
+$this->zip->add_data($name, $data);
+
+// Write the zip file to a folder on your server. Name it "my_backup.zip"
+$this->zip->archive('/path/to/directory/my_backup.zip');
+
+// Download the file to your desktop. Name it "my_backup.zip"
+$this->zip->download('my_backup.zip');
+
+
+
+
+
+

Class Reference

+
+
+class CI_Zip
+
+
+$compression_level = 2
+

The compression level to use.

+

It can range from 0 to 9, with 9 being the highest and 0 effectively disabling compression:

+
$this->zip->compression_level = 0;
+
+
+
+ +
+
+add_data($filepath[, $data = NULL])
+
+++ + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $filepath (mixed) – A single file path or an array of file => data pairs
    • +
  • $data (array) – File contents (ignored if $filepath is an array)
    • +
+
Return type:

void

+
+

Adds data to the Zip archive. Can work both in single and multiple files mode.

+

When adding a single file, the first parameter must contain the name you would +like given to the file and the second must contain the file contents:

+
$name = 'mydata1.txt';
+$data = 'A Data String!';
+$this->zip->add_data($name, $data);
+
+$name = 'mydata2.txt';
+$data = 'Another Data String!';
+$this->zip->add_data($name, $data);
+
+
+

When adding multiple files, the first parameter must contain file => contents pairs +and the second parameter is ignored:

+
$data = array(
+        'mydata1.txt' => 'A Data String!',
+        'mydata2.txt' => 'Another Data String!'
+);
+
+$this->zip->add_data($data);
+
+
+

If you would like your compressed data organized into sub-directories, simply include +the path as part of the filename(s):

+
$name = 'personal/my_bio.txt';
+$data = 'I was born in an elevator...';
+
+$this->zip->add_data($name, $data);
+
+
+

The above example will place my_bio.txt inside a folder called personal.

+
+ +
+
+add_dir($directory)
+
+++ + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $directory (mixed) – Directory name string or an array of multiple directories
    • +
+
Return type:

void

+
+

Permits you to add a directory. Usually this method is unnecessary since you can place +your data into directories when using $this->zip->add_data(), but if you would like +to create an empty directory you can do so:

+
$this->zip->add_dir('myfolder'); // Creates a directory called "myfolder"
+
+
+
+ +
+
+read_file($path[, $archive_filepath = FALSE])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $path (string) – Path to file
    • +
  • $archive_filepath (mixed) – New file name/path (string) or (boolean) whether to maintain the original filepath
    • +
+
Returns:

TRUE on success, FALSE on failure

+
Return type:

bool

+
+

Permits you to compress a file that already exists somewhere on your server. +Supply a file path and the zip class will read it and add it to the archive:

+
$path = '/path/to/photo.jpg';
+
+$this->zip->read_file($path);
+
+// Download the file to your desktop. Name it "my_backup.zip"
+$this->zip->download('my_backup.zip');
+
+
+

If you would like the Zip archive to maintain the directory structure of +the file in it, pass TRUE (boolean) in the second parameter. Example:

+
$path = '/path/to/photo.jpg';
+
+$this->zip->read_file($path, TRUE);
+
+// Download the file to your desktop. Name it "my_backup.zip"
+$this->zip->download('my_backup.zip');
+
+
+

In the above example, photo.jpg will be placed into the path/to/ directory.

+

You can also specify a new name (path included) for the added file on the fly:

+
$path = '/path/to/photo.jpg';
+$new_path = '/new/path/some_photo.jpg';
+
+$this->zip->read_file($path, $new_path);
+
+// Download ZIP archive containing /new/path/some_photo.jpg
+$this->zip->download('my_archive.zip');
+
+
+
+ +
+
+read_dir($path[, $preserve_filepath = TRUE[, $root_path = NULL]])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $path (string) – Path to directory
    • +
  • $preserve_filepath (bool) – Whether to maintain the original path
    • +
  • $root_path (string) – Part of the path to exclude from the archive directory
    • +
+
Returns:

TRUE on success, FALSE on failure

+
Return type:

bool

+
+

Permits you to compress a directory (and its contents) that already exists somewhere on your server. +Supply a path to the directory and the zip class will recursively read and recreate it as a Zip archive. +All files contained within the supplied path will be encoded, as will any sub-directories contained within it. Example:

+
$path = '/path/to/your/directory/';
+
+$this->zip->read_dir($path);
+
+// Download the file to your desktop. Name it "my_backup.zip"
+$this->zip->download('my_backup.zip');
+
+
+

By default the Zip archive will place all directories listed in the first parameter +inside the zip. If you want the tree preceding the target directory to be ignored, +you can pass FALSE (boolean) in the second parameter. Example:

+
$path = '/path/to/your/directory/';
+
+$this->zip->read_dir($path, FALSE);
+
+
+

This will create a ZIP with a directory named “directory” inside, then all sub-directories +stored correctly inside that, but will not include the /path/to/your part of the path.

+
+ +
+
+archive($filepath)
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $filepath (string) – Path to target zip archive
    • +
+
Returns:

TRUE on success, FALSE on failure

+
Return type:

bool

+
+

Writes the Zip-encoded file to a directory on your server. Submit a valid server path +ending in the file name. Make sure the directory is writable (755 is usually OK). +Example:

+
$this->zip->archive('/path/to/folder/myarchive.zip'); // Creates a file named myarchive.zip
+
+
+
+ +
+
+download($filename = 'backup.zip')
+
+++ + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $filename (string) – Archive file name
    • +
+
Return type:

void

+
+

Causes the Zip file to be downloaded from your server. +You must pass the name you would like the zip file called. Example:

+
$this->zip->download('latest_stuff.zip'); // File will be named "latest_stuff.zip"
+
+
+
+

Note

+

Do not display any data in the controller in which you call +this method since it sends various server headers that cause the +download to happen and the file to be treated as binary.

+
+
+ +
+
+get_zip()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:Zip file content
Return type:string
+

Returns the Zip-compressed file data. Generally you will not need this method unless you +want to do something unique with the data. Example:

+
$name = 'my_bio.txt';
+$data = 'I was born in an elevator...';
+
+$this->zip->add_data($name, $data);
+
+$zip_file = $this->zip->get_zip();
+
+
+
+ +
+
+clear_data()
+
+++ + + + +
Return type:void
+

The Zip class caches your zip data so that it doesn’t need to recompile the Zip archive +for each method you use above. If, however, you need to create multiple Zip archives, +each with different data, you can clear the cache between calls. Example:

+
$name = 'my_bio.txt';
+$data = 'I was born in an elevator...';
+
+$this->zip->add_data($name, $data);
+$zip_file = $this->zip->get_zip();
+
+$this->zip->clear_data();
+
+$name = 'photo.jpg';
+$this->zip->read_file("/path/to/photo.jpg"); // Read the file's contents
+
+$this->zip->download('myphotos.zip');
+
+
+
+ +
+ +
+
+ + +