Trouble deleting files with unlink

timbr8ks

I'm setting up a Web site manager for a client, where they can add photos and, hopefully, delete them. The Administrative code is in a directory called /manager. So, www.site.com/manager. The photos are in a directory called photos -- www.site.com/photos.

I'm trying to use 'unlink' to delete the files off the server when required. So, my code looks like this:

if (@$drop_photo) {
$sql_drop=mysql_query("UPDATE person SET photo='' WHERE person_id=$p");
unlink ('/photos/$i');
}

However, I keep getting an error back that says:

Warning: unlink() failed (No such file or directory) in [file] on line 19

I've tried putting in the full [url]http://[/url] path, using neat little '...' to indicate that I need to go up a directory, and nothing seems to work. Can anyone help?

Thanks.

stolzyboy

post some of your code it would help out greatly, but this is all i do when i need to delete a file - and all $delete is the variable sent from the form of the file i need to delete

unlink ("photos/$delete");

timbr8ks

In the file people_edit.php, there's a form that includes this code:

// If this person has a photo, show the file name of that photo and a link to change the image (or drop the photo)

if (@$row_person['photo']) {
echo "$row_person[photo]     <a href=\"people_edit.php?p=$row_person[person_id]&i=$row_person[photo]&drop_photo=1\"><span class=\"t8-r\">change image</span></a>";

// If this person does not have a photo already, provide the form field so they can add one.

} else {
echo "<input type=\"file\" name=\"photo\" size=\"25\" style=\"font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;\">";

}

If they click on the "change image" link, it calls the same page. At the top of this page is this code:

// If dropping a photo, update the database so that it contains no file, and delete the file from the server

if (@$drop_photo) {
$sql_drop=mysql_query("UPDATE person SET photo='' WHERE person_id=$p");
unlink ("/photos/$i");
}

One potential complication is the directory paths. The people_edit.php file is here:

[url]http://[/url]/manager/people_edit.php

The photo is here:

[url]http://[url]/photos/[file_name]

I've tried everything I can think of, but I always get the same error: unlink() failed (No such file or directory)

timbr8ks

My URL examples didn't work quite right. The people edit file is here:

URL/manager/people_edit.php

The photos are here:

URL/photos

stolzyboy

have you echoed out the $i to actually see what it holds for info

Duey

these a few errors there when doing directorys without a path you should not put the "/" in front in this case you have got /photos/$i it should be photos/$i if that doesnt work you may need an absolute path by using $_SERVER['DOCUTMENT_ROOT']/photos/$i

and if that all doesnt work its most likely a windows server in this case you would need to do this:
system(del photos/$i);

timbr8ks

Yes, thought of that. It's holding the actual file name. When I click the "change image" photo, the end of the URL reads like this:

people_edit.php?p=3&i=testphoto.jpg&drop_photo=1

stolzyboy

yes duey is correct, notice in my first post that i don't have a leading /, this would only be used if you want to go back a directory with ../

timbr8ks

Okay, thanks to you both. Figured it out. I needed a full server path, like this:

/home/companyname/public_html/photos/$i

Duey

yea i thought so