i'm using this function: function getmyimages($qid){ $imgdir = 'modules/Projects/uploaded_project_images/'. $qid .''; // the directory, where your images are stored $allowed_types = array('png','jpg','jpeg','gif'); // list of filetypes you want to show $dimg = opendir($imgdir); while($imgfile = readdir($dimg)) { if(in_array(strtolower(substr($imgfile,-3)),$allowed_types)) { $a_img[] = $imgfile; sort($a_img); reset ($a_img); } } $totimg = count($a_img); // total image number for($x=0; $x < $totimg; $x++) { $size = getimagesize($imgdir.'/'.$a_img[$x]); // do whatever $halfwidth = ceil($size[0]/2); $halfheight = ceil($size[1]/2); $mytest = 'name: '.$a_img[$x].' width: '.$size[0].' height: '.$size[1].'<br /><a href="'. $imgdir .'/'.$a_img[$x].'">'. $a_img[$x]. '</a>'; } return $mytest; } And i call this function between a while row as: $sql_select = $db->sql_query('SELECT * from '.$prefix.'_projects WHERE topic=\''.$cid.'\''); OpenTable(); while ($row2 = $db->sql_fetchrow($sql_select)){ $qid = $row2['qid']; $project_query = $db->sql_query('SELECT p.uid, p.uname, p.subject, p.story, p.storyext, p.date, p.topic, p.pdate, p.materials, p.bidoptions, p.projectduration, pd.id_duration, pm.material_id, pbo.bidid, pc.cid FROM ' . $prefix . '_projects p, ' . $prefix . '_projects_duration pd, ' . $prefix . '_project_materials pm, ' . $prefix . '_project_bid_options pbo, ' . $prefix . '_project_categories pc WHERE p.topic=\''.$cid.'\' and p.qid=\''.$qid.'\' and p.bidoptions=pbo.bidid and p.materials=pm.material_id and p.projectduration=pd.id_duration'); while ($project_row = $db->sql_fetchrow($project_query)) { //$qid = $project_row['qid']; $uid = $project_row['uid']; $uname = $project_row['uname']; $subject = $project_row['subject']; $story = $project_row['story']; $storyext = $project_row['storyext']; $date = $project_row['date']; $topic = $project_row['topic']; $pdate = $project_row['pdate']; $materials = $project_row['materials']; $bidoptions = $project_row['bidoptions']; $projectduration = $project_row['projectduration']; //Get the topic name $topic_query = $db->sql_query('SELECT cid,title from '.$prefix.'_project_categories WHERE cid =\''.$cid.'\''); while ($topic_row = $db->sql_fetchrow($topic_query)) { $topic_id = $topic_row['cid']; $topic_title = $topic_row['title']; } //Get the material text $material_query = $db->sql_query('SELECT material_id,material_name from '.$prefix.'_project_materials WHERE material_id =\''.$materials.'\''); while ($material_row = $db->sql_fetchrow($material_query)) { $material_id = $material_row['material_id']; $material_name = $material_row['material_name']; } //Get the bid methode $bid_query = $db->sql_query('SELECT bidid,bidname from '.$prefix.'_project_bid_options WHERE bidid =\''.$bidoptions.'\''); while ($bid_row = $db->sql_fetchrow($bid_query)) { $bidid = $bid_row['bidid']; $bidname = $bid_row['bidname']; } //Get the project duration $duration_query = $db->sql_query('SELECT id_duration,duration_value,duration_alias from '.$prefix.'_projects_duration WHERE id_duration =\''.$projectduration.'\''); while ($duration_row = $db->sql_fetchrow($duration_query)) { $id_duration = $duration_row['id_duration']; $duration_value = $duration_row['duration_value']; $duration_alias = $duration_row['duration_alias']; } } echo '<br/><b>id</b>--->' .$qid. '<br/><b>uid</b>--->' .$uid. '<br/><b>username</b>--->' .$uname. '<br/><b>subject</b>--->'.$subject. '<br/><b>story1</b>--->'.$story. '<br/><b>story2</b>--->'.$storyext. '<br/><b>postdate</b>--->'.$date. '<br/><b>categorie</b>--->'.$topic_title . '<br/><b>project start</b>--->'.$pdate. '<br/><b>materials</b>--->'.$material_name. '<br/><b>bid methode</b>--->'.$bidname. '<br/><b>project duration</b>--->'.$duration_alias.'<br /><br /><br/><b>image url</b>--->'.getmyimages($qid).'<br /><br />'; } CloseTable(); the result outputs only the "last" file from the directories. if i do a echo instead of a return $mytest; it read the whole directory but ruïns the output.