How can recursive functions like RecursiveRegexIterator be utilized in PHP for advanced file searching?

Recursive functions like RecursiveRegexIterator can be utilized in PHP for advanced file searching by allowing you to search through directories and their subdirectories recursively while applying regular expressions to filter the results. This can be particularly useful when you need to search for files that match specific patterns or criteria across a large directory structure.

<?php
// Define the directory to search in
$directory = '/path/to/directory';

// Define the regular expression pattern to match
$pattern = '/\.txt$/';

// Create a RecursiveIteratorIterator with a RecursiveRegexIterator
$iterator = new RecursiveIteratorIterator(
    new RecursiveRegexIterator(
        new RecursiveDirectoryIterator($directory),
        $pattern
    )
);

// Iterate over the matching files
foreach ($iterator as $file) {
    echo $file->getPathname() . PHP_EOL;
}
?>