Creating a zip file in php is as easy as creating them on your desktop using some zipping software. Php comes with inbuilt class that helps in making a zip file and provides all the functionality that you would ever need. Here is a simple function that I coded for my project. Hope it helps some peoples out there as well.
Php code:
// creates a compressed zip file
function create_zip($files = array(), $filename=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();
$valid_names = array();
$i=0;
//if files were passed in...
if(is_array($files)) {
//cycle through each file
foreach($files as $file) {
//make sure the file exists
if(is_file($file)) {
$valid_files[] = $file;
if(isset($filename[$i]) && $filename[$i]!='') {
$valid_names[]=$filename[$i];
} else {
$valid_names[]=$file;
}
}
$i++;
}
}
//if we have good files...
if(count($valid_files)) {
//create the archive
$zip = new ZipArchive();
if($zip->open($destination,$overwrite ? ZIPARCHIVE::OVERWRITE : ZIPARCHIVE::CREATE) !== true) {
return false;
}
$i=0;
//add the files
foreach($valid_files as $file) {
$zip->addFile($file,$valid_names[$i]);
$i++;
}
//debug
//echo 'The zip archive contains ',$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;
}
}