Predefined Constants

The constants below are defined by this extension, and will only be available when the extension has either been compiled into PHP or dynamically loaded at runtime.

Inotify constants usable with inotify_add_watch() and/or returned by inotify_read()
IN_ACCESS (int)
File was accessed (read) (*)
IN_MODIFY (int)
File was modified (*)
IN_ATTRIB (int)
Metadata changed (e.g. permissions, mtime, etc.) (*)
IN_CLOSE_WRITE (int)
File opened for writing was closed (*)
IN_CLOSE_NOWRITE (int)
File not opened for writing was closed (*)
IN_OPEN (int)
File was opened (*)
IN_MOVED_TO (int)
File moved into watched directory (*)
IN_MOVED_FROM (int)
File moved out of watched directory (*)
IN_CREATE (int)
File or directory created in watched directory (*)
IN_DELETE (int)
File or directory deleted in watched directory (*)
IN_DELETE_SELF (int)
Watched file or directory was deleted
IN_MOVE_SELF (int)
Watch file or directory was moved
IN_CLOSE (int)
Equals to IN_CLOSE_WRITE | IN_CLOSE_NOWRITE
IN_MOVE (int)
Equals to IN_MOVED_FROM | IN_MOVED_TO
IN_ALL_EVENTS (int)
Bitmask of all the above constants
IN_UNMOUNT (int)
File system containing watched object was unmounted
IN_Q_OVERFLOW (int)
Event queue overflowed (wd is -1 for this event)
IN_IGNORED (int)
Watch was removed (explicitly by inotify_rm_watch() or because file was removed or filesystem unmounted
IN_ISDIR (int)
Subject of this event is a directory
IN_ONLYDIR (int)
Only watch pathname if it is a directory (Since Linux 2.6.15)
IN_DONT_FOLLOW (int)
Do not dereference pathname if it is a symlink (Since Linux 2.6.15)
IN_MASK_ADD (int)
Add events to watch mask for this pathname if it already exists (instead of replacing mask).
IN_ONESHOT (int)
Monitor pathname for one event, then remove from watch list.

Note: The events marked with an asterisk (*) above can occur for files in watched directories.

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User Contributed Notes 2 notes

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8
crownedgrouse
15 years ago
Be carefull using IN_MODIFY :

Lot of UNIX editor, for instance like 'vi', work in a 'xxx~' file, and changes are written in 'xxx' when saving or saving and closing.

If a watcher is done on 'xxx', no IN_MODIFY event occurs while not saved !

Prefere IN_CLOSE_WRITE in such case .
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4
rogere84 at gmail dot com
10 years ago
I noticed that the values of the constants seem to be missing. Granted, these could change dependant on version but on my system here are the values (should you want them).

IN_ACCESS = 1
IN_MODIFY = 2
IN_ATTRIB = 4
IN_CLOSE_WRITE = 8
IN_CLOSE_NOWRITE = 16
IN_OPEN = 32
IN_MOVED_FROM = 64
IN_MOVED_TO = 128
IN_CREATE = 256
IN_DELETE = 512
IN_DELETE_SELF = 1024
IN_MOVE_SELF = 2048
IN_UNMOUNT = 8192
IN_Q_OVERFLOW = 16384
IN_IGNORED = 32768
IN_CLOSE = 24
IN_MOVE = 192
IN_ALL_EVENTS = 4095
IN_ONLYDIR = 16777216
IN_DONT_FOLLOW = 33554432
IN_MASK_ADD = 536870912
IN_ISDIR = 1073741824
IN_ONESHOT = 2147483648
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