Create a Zip File Using PHP

 Creating .ZIP archives using PHP can be just as simple as creating them on your desktop. PHP’s ZIP class provides all the functionality you need! To make the process a bit faster for you, I’ve coded a simple create_zip function for you to use on your projects.

create_zip function

PHP

/* creates a compressed zip file */

function create_zip($files = array(),$destination = '',$overwrite = false) {

    //if the zip file already exists and overwrite is false, return false

    if(file_exists($destination) && !$overwrite) { return false; }

    //vars

    $valid_files = array();

    //if files were passed in...

    if(is_array($files)) {

        //cycle through each file

        foreach($files as $file) {

            //make sure the file exists

            if(file_exists($file)) {

                $valid_files[] = $file;

            }

        }

    }

    //if we have good files...

    if(count($valid_files)) {

        //create the archive

        $zip = new ZipArchive();

        if($zip->open($destination,$overwrite ? ZIPARCHIVE::OVERWRITE : ZIPARCHIVE::CREATE) !== true) {

            return false;

        }

        //add the files

        foreach($valid_files as $file) {

            $zip->addFile($file,$file);

        }

        //debug

        //echo 'The zip archive contains ',$zip->numFiles,' files with a status of ',$zip->status;

        //close the zip -- done!

        $zip->close();

        //check to make sure the file exists

        return file_exists($destination);

    }

    else

    {

        return false;

    }

}

Example code :

PHP

$files_to_zip = array(

    'file-1.jpg',

  'file-2.jpg',

  'file-3.pdf',

);

//if true, good; if false, zip creation failed

$result = create_zip($files_to_zip,'my-archive-file.zip');

The function accepts an array of files, the name of the destination files, and whether or not you’d like the destination file to be overwritten if a file of the same name exists. The function returns true if the file was created, false if the process runs into any problems.

This functionality is great for web-based file managers. If you have any issue feel free to comment.