How can PHP developers handle special characters or unexpected file names when working with directories in PHP?

Special characters or unexpected file names can be handled by using functions like urlencode() or rawurlencode() to encode the file names before interacting with them in PHP. This ensures that the file names are properly formatted and can be safely used in directory operations.

$directory = "/path/to/directory/";
$encodedFileName = urlencode($fileName);
$filePath = $directory . $encodedFileName;

// Now $filePath contains the properly encoded file name that can be used for directory operations