WP_Theme::get_file_path( string $file = '' ): string
- Since
- 5.9.0
- Source
wp-includes/class-wp-theme.php:1611
Description
Searches in the stylesheet directory before the template directory so themes which inherit from a parent theme can just override one file.
Compatibility
- WordPress
- since 5.9.0
- PHP
- 7.4–8.6-dev
- 6.7.7
- 6.8.8
- 6.9.7
- 7.0.4
- 7.1.0
Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.
Parameters
$filestringoptional- File to search for in the stylesheet directory.Default:
''
Return value
string- The path of the file.
Performance profile
How much work a call to WP_Theme::get_file_path() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.
- Cost class
- Heavy
- Scaling
- Constant
- Instructions
- 22–31
- Plugin surface
- 1 hook
- Called by
- 1
Reads or writes the filesystem via file_exists().
No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.
Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 35.
Third-party callbacks on 'theme_file_path' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.
1 place in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.
What it touches
- hookthird-party callbacks
apply_filters()called directly - filesystemfilesystem access
file_exists()called directly
What one call costs · 2 distinct outcomes
One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost WP_Theme::get_file_path() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.
| When | Instructions | Calls it makes |
|---|---|---|
| always | 22–24 | ltrim(), ->get_stylesheet_directory(), ->get_template_directory(), apply_filters() |
!empty($file) && $stylesheet_directory !== false | 30–31 | ltrim(), ->get_stylesheet_directory(), ->get_template_directory(), file_exists(), apply_filters() |
Across PHP versions
Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 35 instructions, 22–31 executed per call, 3 branches. The work does not change between versions.
An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.
Hooks and filters fired · 1
One hook fires while WP_Theme::get_file_path() runs, in this order:
- apply_filters( theme_file_path )filterline 1626 (+15 into the body)
Filters the path to a file in the theme.
Uses · 3
- apply_filters()Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook.
- WP_Theme::get_stylesheet_directory()Returns the absolute path to the directory of a theme's "stylesheet" files.
- WP_Theme::get_template_directory()Returns the absolute path to the directory of a theme's "template" files.
Used by · 1
- WP_Theme::is_block_theme()Returns whether this theme is a block-based theme or not.
Source code
public function get_file_path( $file = '' ) { $file = ltrim( $file, '/' ); $stylesheet_directory = $this->get_stylesheet_directory(); $template_directory = $this->get_template_directory(); if ( empty( $file ) ) { $path = $stylesheet_directory; } elseif ( $stylesheet_directory !== $template_directory && file_exists( $stylesheet_directory . '/' . $file ) ) { $path = $stylesheet_directory . '/' . $file; } else { $path = $template_directory . '/' . $file; } /** This filter is documented in wp-includes/link-template.php */ return apply_filters( 'theme_file_path', $path, $file ); }Changelog
Introduced in 5.9.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.
Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.
About this page
- Parsed data
- Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.8.8 tag, from
src/wp-includes/class-wp-theme.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it. - Corrections
- Something wrong on this page? Report it and it gets fixed in the next regeneration.