I hate having to do this... but... The code: $_code = function($_a) { //$_a: string; value to assign hard coded record $_target = 'php/testSample.php'; if(!file_exists($_target)); { return ['error'=>true, 'value'=>implode("\n", scandir(getcwd().'/php')) ]; //$_target.' not found']; } //.... }: The result printed in html page: Set jsTest Value: . .. L60Set.php asyncSampler.php asyncSamplerClass.php index.php jsTest.php labHost.php procList.php scratch.php testSample.php As you can see at the bottom: testSample.php Why i is the code: !file_exists($_target) coming up true (not finding the file). Thank you for time and attention JK