bool is_writeable (string filename)
Returns true if the filename exists and is writeable. The filename argument may be a directory name allowing you to check if a directory is writeable.
Keep in mind that PHP may be accessing the file as the user id that the web server runs as (often 'nobody'). Safe mode limitations are not taken into account.
The results of this function are cached. See clearstatcache() for more details.
See also is_readable().