Deleting uploaded images through php.

[Markus]

Now, i know it's possible to delete files using 'unlink'.

But, i tried this against a jpg file, to no avail.

I have done some research but have been unable to find anything to approach this with.

Sorry in advance.

And thanks... in advance :D

[Atli]

Hi Markus.

The unlink() function can delete all files on your server it has access to. That is to say, the user running the PHP process must have write permission on the file to delete it.

Could you show us your code and any errors you were getting?

[Markus]

Yeh sure!

I used the 'unlink' on an image BUT i checked and the image was still there..

Here's the code :)
[php]
<?php
$file = $_GET['file']; //file to delete

include("../connectionstuff"); //config for mysql
include("../connectionstuff"); //open database mysql

$query = "DELETE FROM `ma_pics` WHERE `url_short` = '$file'"; /*delete from database! If not done, images will try to appear in the recently uploaded section! */
mysql_query($query) or die ("Error encountered: ".mysql_error.""); // query it.

$fh = fopen($file, 'w') or die("can't open file"); // open file
fclose($fh); // and close so no other part is using it!
unlink($file) or die("error!"); //this is the deleting part :D
echo "<p>Image '".$file."': deleted.</p>"; //on success => let user know of delete
?>
[/php]

I don't get any errors, just that the file is never ACTUALLY deleted.

Thanks :)

[Atli]

Ok, I see no major problem with that code. If the $_GET super-global contains a valid file path then that file should be deleted. (Assuming the database query doesn't fail and stop the code first.)

What does the file path look like? Are you sure it points to a the file?

A few notes about the code.
You include the "../connectionstuff" twice. Dunno if thats on purpose or not but, anyways.
Also, assuming you use the fopen() and fclose() functions there on the $file path to check if it actually exists, you could try the file_exists() function or even the is_writable() function to see if it exists and can be deleted.

[Markus]

Ok, I see no major problem with that code. If the $_GET super-global contains a valid file path then that file should be deleted. (Assuming the database query doesn't fail and stop the code first.)

What does the file path look like? Are you sure it points to a the file?

A few notes about the code.
You include the "../connectionstuff" twice. Dunno if thats on purpose or not but, anyways.
Also, assuming you use the fopen() and fclose() functions there on the $file path to check if it actually exists, you could try the file_exists() function or even the is_writable() function to see if it exists and can be deleted.

Thanks for the input!

the connection stuff was actually two seperate things but i removed the actual names of the files :)

I'll have a play around with stuff.

I've hit a new problem though with creating directories, but thats for another time, i think.

Thanks a bunch.

[Markus]

The mysql query is working fine: the url is deleted from the db

just the actual image isnt being deleted ¬_¬

[Markus]

Would this(script), by any chance, have to be in the same directory as the file being deleted?

SOLVED!!!!