Downloads Management - Very good Idea.

robert_w_ark

Ok, Here is what I am trying to do. I am going to explain very clearly, if you have any questions, please reply.

I want it so that when a user goes to download a file, any file, PHP will create another file in a "temp" folder With the actual file name. This sounds confusing, I know, but follow this...(Note: I am using mysql)

1) User wants to download "Something.zip"
2) The encrypted filename on server is "{0A7ACDA3-1425-4174-955E-8756DE0877F9}.zip"
3) Make PHP copy the file replacing the name with the MySQL entry for that particular name.
4) So, it would make "{0A7ACDA3-1425-4174-955E-8756DE0877F9}.zip" be renamed to "Something.zip" (From MySQL).
5) Let the person have 3 hours to download the file.
6) After 3 hours is up on server time, delete "Something.zip"
7) And same thing for other files.

Here is what I have came up with for the copying part, I cant figure out how to delete the files though after 3 hours.


<?php

/* Connect and Select Database */
$dbh = mysql_connect("localhost","home","password");
mysql_select_db("downloads",$dbh);

/* Gets ID from a link (ex: www.domain.com/download.php?id=1) */
$id = htmlspecialchars(addslashes($_GET['id']));

/* MySQL query */
$query = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM Downloads WHERE id='$id'");

/* Check if ID exists. */
$check = mysql_num_rows($query);

/* If $check returned 1 or more rows (Note: It can only return one row. Did this to be safe) */
if($check >= 1)
{

/*
Note: 
$row['link'] is equal to "{0A7ACDA3-1425-4174-955E-8756DE0877F9}.zip"
$row['name'] is equal to "Something.zip"
*/

  /* Get array from ID. */
  $row = mysql_fetch_array($query);

  /* Get old file name to move from */
  $file = $row['link'];

  /* Get extension from old filename (ex  ".zip" or ".rar" (I only host these archives))
  $extension = substr($row['link'], -4);

  /* Copy old file and rename with the real name from MySQL database to "temp" folder.
Temp folder is already made and CHMOD 777. */
  $newname = "temp/".$row['name'].$extension;

  /* If the file was successfully named and copied */
  if(copy($row['link'],$newname))
  {

/*
Now, somewhere in here is when the "session" should
start to run on the servers side instead of the clients side to
automatically delete the temp file after 3 hours.
I think we should use sesions...Not too sure...
I am wanting to do this instead of using the "Hotlink" option in cPanel
- Which to me is very unuseful for me right now, so please dont bring that up...
*/

/* Display download link */
echo "Your download is ready. Click <a href=\"".$newname."\">Here</a>.";
  }
  else
  {
    /* Copy/Rename was unsuccessful. */
    echo "Sorry, there was an internal error. Please try again later, or report it to the admins.";
  }
}
else
{
  /* If $count is 0 */
  echo "This download does not exist.";
}

?>

So, if you have any ideas of how the server will delete the temp file "Something.zip" after 3 hours, Please let me know and post again if you will! Thanks in advance, -Robert 🙂

devinemke

is there a 1-to-1 relationship between users and downloadable files? if not i would suggest that you embed the user's id somewhere within the temp filename so one user cannot overwrite another user's temp file. you should also implement a routine whereby a user can't simply re-run your code after 1 minute and thereby extend the download time window. perhaps a timestamp field in the database that logs the start time. if the user tries again and the timestamp is set and is less than three hours old then the user will get a warning. as far as the cleanup, run an hourly cronjob (or Windows Task Scheduler if it is a Windows server) that scans the temp directory and deletes all files that have a file modification time older then 3 hours. the cron could then also update the database and NULL out the timestamp so the user can log back in after 3 hours to re-start a new 3 hour download time window. this again we require that the user id be part of the filename.

AstroTeg

Why not setup a table to manage the user, the user's file request, and what the start time is of their window?

I'm assuming you have the files in a non-web accessible location. Then, give the user a URL. The URL will point to another PHP script. The goal of this script will be to validate the user (make sure they're allowed to access the file and its within the right time frame of 3 hours). If all is good, read the file and output it to the browser (aka: download). If all is not good, then have that PHP file redirect to an error page or your homepage. With this method, you could even build your own logging to keep track how many times the file was downloaded (maybe include a rule the user can only download the file 5 times in 3 hours).

Keep the files in one spot and not worry about temporary files.

robert_w_ark

That is a good idea - But im not too "Great" at PHP programming, maybe some source code please? Also, I was trying to avoid the "MySQL" thing for users, instead I wanted the SERVER to delete the file. I can embed the users name in the file too. So, like I said, any source code put up will be valuable to me 🙂

robert_w_ark

Originally posted by devinemke
is there a 1-to-1 relationship between users and downloadable files? if not i would suggest that you embed the user's id somewhere within the temp filename so one user cannot overwrite another user's temp file. you should also implement a routine whereby a user can't simply re-run your code after 1 minute and thereby extend the download time window. perhaps a timestamp field in the database that logs the start time. if the user tries again and the timestamp is set and is less than three hours old then the user will get a warning. as far as the cleanup, run an hourly cronjob (or Windows Task Scheduler if it is a Windows server) that scans the temp directory and deletes all files that have a file modification time older then 3 hours. the cron could then also update the database and NULL out the timestamp so the user can log back in after 3 hours to re-start a new 3 hour download time window. this again we require that the user id be part of the filename.

As posted above, I will be using linux server, but I dont know how to set cron jobs (Im also using cPanel) - Anyways, further help is appreciated (As well as source/tut's)

robert_w_ark

Anyone have any ideas and can help me please?

robert_w_ark

Now I know someone can help 😛