Make directory if it possible using php?

Anon

I have an assignment that need to create directory on the server online. I have to choose between asp and php to develop this project. if i use php how could i develop this project that need the functionality like this.
- User can register login and password then system create a folder that own by user.
- The folder created by user cannot be used by the other user.
- User can logon and send a file in numerous type to the folder.
- Capacity of the folder how could we set.
- OS WinNT/2000 or Linux

I hope to get some information how to develop this project using php.

thank for help, sorry cause my english is not good.

Anon

I will address the part about who owns the folder on a *nix server.  If the directory is created with PHP as an Apache module then the owner of the directory will be the webserver process (usually nobody).  That user will not be able to change the owner to another user on the system, only root can do that.
If you truly want that directory to be owned by the user, then you would have to make a user account for that user on the system.  If this account already exists, then you are past the hard part.  If you want to create this account then you have to do that as root.
As you see, most of this has to be done as the system's root user.  This lends itself nicely to the often suggested solution of setting up a CRON job to read a text file and perform the appropriate duties.  This script could be written in PHP if you also install the CGI executable on the system.
If you run PHP as a CGI on the server to start with it does have the ability to run scripts under another user ID.  Personally I have no experience with this, but it can be a security hole.
I also can't comment on the Win2K issue, but I would assume the same ownership problem would be present if you are using Apache and PHP as a DSO.
You could use PHP to artificially create and handle "ownership" of files in directories created for users IF they only have access through the webserver.  If they also require telnet/FTP access then this will not work.
There are plenty of other posts and tutorials on these topics on this site, a quick search will probably bring up more than you can read at one sitting :)

Tim Frank

ziong

it sound like a web-base file-system.
are u really need to create a phyical directory on harddisk to implement the system, or just do the same thing like that?

if first one, i think it is hard to prevent user use other folder, since like Tim said, all users (in your system) are using the same linux user (should be nobody). Ofcouse you can run php as root, but it is not recommend to do so.

But if you just to do a system you described,
you are not really need to create a phyical directory for each user. a database can help you.
for example,
create 3 tables in database:
user(userid, password, etc ... )
user_folder(folderid, userid)
folder_file(folderid, fileid, filename, filetype, filesize)

now you just need one phyical directory to store all files, all security checking you can be done in the script.

i hope this will help you

Anon

Yeas I have been made the same project in PHP and everything is working fine. So if you are intresting to do try to do it in php and let me know one by one. I think i can help you ..

Best wishes
Tabish