[PHP] Display random images (from a directory)

[Hitch]

There are many scripts and tutorials out there that let you display random images.
Most of them require you to specify which images to show… which can be a pain writing out what images you want to display, especially if there is a lot of them.

Which is why i wrote this PHP function, to make it simpler.
Instead of listing the files, just specify which directory contain the images you want displaying.

This script will “scan” your specified directory, and display the files randomly. (Given they have a image extension of .jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .png, .ico)

The Code

<?php

// Written by Cueburst (http://cueburst.com)

error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);

// Random Image function
function random_image($directory)
{
	$leading = substr($directory, 0, 1);
	$trailing = substr($directory, -1, 1);
	
	if($leading == '/')
	{
		$directory = substr($directory, 1);
	}
	if($trailing != '/')
	{
		$directory = $directory . '/';
	}
	
	if(empty($directory) or !is_dir($directory))
	{
		die('Directory: ' . $directory . ' not found.');
	}
	
	$files = scandir($directory, 1);
	
	$make_array = array();
	
	foreach($files AS $id => $file)
	{
		$info = pathinfo($dir . $file);
	
		$image_extensions = array('jpg', 'jpeg', 'gif', 'png', 'ico');
		if(!in_array($info['extension'], $image_extensions))
		{
			unset($file);
		}
		else
		{
			$file = str_replace(' ', '%20', $file);
			$temp = array($id => $file);
			array_push($make_array, $temp);
		}
	}
	
	if(sizeof($make_array) == 0)
	{
		die('No images in ' . $directory . ' Directory');
	}
	
	$total = count($make_array) - 1;

	$random_image = rand(0, $total);
	return $directory . $make_array[$random_image][$random_image];

}

?>

To use the function, it's quite simple, type of your HTML Img line, and add our function in the source, for example, lets say our images are located in a folder called cars...

<?php

require 'random_image.php';
echo "<img src=" . random_image('cars') . " />";

?>

Final Notes

• When entering the directory name, there is no-need for training or leading slashes, the function will check and add them in where applicable.
• Accessing parent directories is also allowed, example, ../../cars/
• Image's may have spaces in the filenames, they will be replaced with %20.

:tu:

Enjoy!

 

[Obulus]

Thanks for this!

 

[Nodws]

lol, just name images as numbers. 1.jpg,2.jpg, etc. will save tons on CPU resources