<?php
// pathinfo() constants parameter list
// PATHINFO_DIRNAME  => directory name
// PATHINFO_BASENAME => name of file (w/out extension)
// PATHINFO_EXTENSION => file extension
// PATHINFO_FILENAME   => file name w/ extension
 
$path = '/images/thumbs/my_avatar.gif';
 
//outputs '/images/thumbs/'
echo pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_DIRNAME);
 
//outputs 'my_avatar'
echo pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_BASENAME);
 
//outputs 'my_avatar.gif'
echo pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_FILENAME);
 
//outputs 'gif'
echo pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_EXTENSION);
?>

http://www.apphp.com/index.php?snippet=php-get-file-path-data

You may retrieve all needed file path data using PHP's built-in function pathinfo. You don't need to create your own functions or use regular expressions to get this info. It was already been created for this purpose.

Get File Path Data in PHP

php, file, path

PHP