[NeverMind]

yes it's possible to count files in a directory..
simply use scandir() function like this:

PHP Code:

$files = @scandir('mydir');



if ($files)

   $num_of_files = count($files) - 2; // we substract 2 because . and .. are included

else

   die('there is an error');



if (isset($num_of_files) && !empty($num_of_files))

    echo "There are $num_of_files files in the directory";

else

    echo 'no files found!'; 

this will count the number of files found in the directory "mydir" and then assign the names to the array $files.
you can manipulate this array with foreach() like:

PHP Code:

$link = null;



foreach($files as $file)

    $link .= "column{$file}.html\n";



echo $link; 

this will print the files found like:
columnFILENAME.html

HTH