function getoldestfile($directory, $entry) { if ($handle = opendir($directory)) { while (false !== ($file = readdir($handle))) { if (is_file($directory.$file)) { $files[] = $file; } } if (count($files) <= 12) { return; } else { foreach ($files as $val) { if (is_file($directory.$val)) { preg_match("/".$entry."/i", $val, $finds); $file_date[$finds] = filemtime($directory.$finds); } } } } closedir($handle); asort($file_date, SORT_NUMERIC); reset($file_date); $oldest = key($file_date); return $oldest; } echo getoldestfile("/var/www/htdocs/files/du/tmp/",40);