Laravel 5.4 Storage link

Title: Understanding Laravel's File Storage System in Detail Introduction: Laravel is a powerful PHP framework that provides a wide variety of features and tools to help developers build robust applications. One of these features is its file storage system, which allows for secure and efficient storing and retrieving of files from your application. In this blog post, we'll delve deeper into the Laravel 5.4's Storage link concept to provide a comprehensive understanding of how it works. Body:

The Laravel Storage Link is a feature that enables developers to easily show pictures and other media files in HTML templates without having to rely on absolute or external URLs. It ensures that your application remains portable, as file paths are not hardcoded into the codebase.

1. Creating a Folder for File Storage: To get started, you'll need to create a folder within your public directory for storing all uploaded files. This is done by running the command 'php artisan storage:link' from your project's root directory. Laravel will automatically generate an '/storage/' symbolic link in the 'public' directory that points to the actual file storage location. 2. Handling File Uploads and Storage: In Laravel, there are built-in methods for handling uploaded files, namely 'Storage::put()', 'Storage::getUrl()', 'Storage::delete()', and 'Storage::exists().' These methods handle the actual file storage in a standardized way, ensuring that all operations are performed consistently. Here's how you can store images using these methods: 1. Upload an image:

$image = \Illuminate\Support\Facades\Input::file('profile_image');
       Storage::put($user->id . '/' . $image->getClientOriginalName(), fopen($image, 'r+'));

2. Retrieve an image URL:

@foreach ($cvs as $cv)
                    <div class="col-sm-6 col-md-4">
                    <div class="thumbnail">
                        <img src="{{ asset('storage/'.$cv->photo) }}" alt="...">
                        ...

In this example, the image URL is generated using 'asset()' helper which automatically appends the appropriate base URL based on your application configuration. Laravel will look for the file within the '/storage/' directory and provide you with a relative path to your desired image. 3. Delete an image:

@foreach ($cvs as $cv)
                    <div class="col-sm-6 col-md-4">
                    <div class="thumbnail">
                        ...
                        @if (isset($cv->photo))
                            
                            

                                {{ csrf_field() }}
                                {!! Form::hidden('id', $cv->id) !!}
                                Delete
                            
                        @endif
                        ...">

Here, you can see that before deleting the image file, a CSRF token is used to ensure security in your application. When submitting the form containing the image's ID, Laravel will automatically handle the process of deleting the photo from the storage directory. 3. Database Storage: As mentioned earlier, data related to files (e.g., their URL and path) is stored in the database. This allows for quick retrieval of image details when displaying the images in your templates, as seen in the first code snippet. It also ensures that you don't have to perform database queries each time you need an image URL. Conclusion: Laravel's File Storage system provides developers with a simple yet powerful solution for storing and retrieving files within their applications. By understanding how it works, developers can create secure, efficient, and portable applications that take advantage of the Laravel framework's features. So next time you need to include images in your HTML template, remember to make use of Laravel's built-in storage functionality for a cleaner and more organized approach.