How do I find the mime-type of a file with php?

Question

Ok, so I have an index.php file which has to process many different file types. how do I guess the filetype based on the REQUEST_URI.

If I request http://site/image.jpg, and all requests redirect through index.php, which looks like this

<?php
   include('/www/site'.$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']);
?>

How would I make that work correctly?

Should I test based on the extension of the file requested, or is there a way to get the filetype?

Answer 1

According to the php manual, the finfo-file function is best way to do this. However, you will need to install the FileInfo PECL extension.

If the extension is not an option, you can use the outdated mime_content_type function.