How to check if file exists via URL

[eluser]Pygon[/eluser]

Code:

if( fopen('$file','r') )
{
//exists
}

This would cover a simple version or whether you get a response on the URL.

The reason that many of these functions seem "heavy", I would assume, is because they attempt to determine whether the file is real or simply a custom 404 error page (most likely via socket >> request >> mime type comparison).