What is the realpath() function in PHP?

Overview

The realpath function in PHP is used to find the absolute path of the specified file. An absolute path is one that contains the path from the root to the element. The general syntax for the realpath function is as follows:

realpath(string $path): string|false

Parameters

The realpath function has one mandatory parameter. This is the path, which is the file we wish to check the path for.

Return value

The realpath function returns the absolute path for a file. If it fails to retrieve the path, it returns FALSE.

Example

The following example will help you understand the realpath function. As shown below, the realpath function prints the absolute path for the file main.txt.