Converting files to binary code using php and saving it in database - php

Question

I am creating something like google drive or some cloud using PHP and HTML where you can save your files but i have problem with saving files to binary code and uploading it to database. I mean i want to do something like that:
User is uploading file by form in html -> converting file to binary -> saving it in database.
User can download his file by some button or smh like that -> file is converting from binary to file.
I tried with doing a script what will save bin code in my database but when i am trying to send some files i am getting error like that:
Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: fopen(): Argument #1 ($filename) must be of type string, array given in C:\xampp\htdocs\fileshub\src\send_file.php:12 Stack trace: #0 C:\xampp\htdocs\fileshub\src\send_file.php(12): fopen(Array, 'rb') #1 {main} thrown in C:\xampp\htdocs\fileshub\src\send_file.php on line 12
This is my form in html:
<form class="upload-form" action="./src/send_file.php" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data"><br>
<input type="text" name="filename" id="filename" placeholder="File name">
<input type="file" name="file" id="file"><br>
<button type="sumbit" class="submit">Submit</button>
</form>
And this is my script in php:
<?php
session_start();
include "../src/db_conn.php";
if(isset($_SESSION['id'])) {
$id = $_SESSION['id']; // id usera
$filename = $_POST['filename']; // nazwa pliku
$file = $_FILES['file'];
$data = fopen ($file, 'rb');
$size = filesize ($file);
$contents = fread ($data, $size);
fclose ($data);
$binfile = base64_encode($contents);
if(!$filename|| !$file) {
header("Location: ../index.php?error=Enter your data!");
exit();
} else {
$check = "SELECT bin_code FROM files WHERE user_id = '$id' AND bin_code = '$binfile' AND file_name = '$filename'";
$result = mysqli_query($conn, $check);
if(mysqli_num_rows($result) === 1){
header("Location: ../index.php?error=Your file exsist.");
exit();
}else {
$save = "INSERT INTO files (user_id, file_name, bin_code) values('$id', '$filename', $binfile)";
$saveresult = mysqli_query($conn, $save);
$saveresult;
header("Location: ../index.php?error=Your file has been saved");
exit();
}
}
}
?>
db_conn:
<?php
$server = "localhost";
$user ="root";
$password = "";
$db = "fileshub";
$conn = mysqli_connect($server, $user, $password, $db);
?>
If you know any solutions for my problem please help :)
Files table
Users table and example user

Answer 1

I believe you know that uploading an image to a directory is a more efficient way to store it.
Please note that $_FILES['file'] is an array containing all sorts of information of the uploaded file, for your case you have to use the filename of the uploaded file. (which is "tmp_name")
So change
$file = $_FILES['file'];
$data = fopen ($file, 'rb');
to
$file = $_FILES['file']["tmp_name"];
$data = fopen ($file, 'rb');
On the other hand, an alternative way is to use file_get_contents instead of fopen, fread, etc.
$contents = file_get_contents($_FILES['file']["tmp_name"]);

Answer 2

So firstly you need to ensure you have a directory that PHP has access and has permissions on but that is not publicly accessible. Usually, on web hosts the web root folder is a sub folder of the home directory, so you can create a new folder there for file storage. Eg:
/home/myuser/public_html/ <-- might be the web root (some installations differ eg: htdocs or html or httpdocs)
/home/myuser/files/ <-- Create this folder for storing files.
Alternatively, if youre web server is Apache, you can create a folder inside your web root, and protect that folder using a .htaccess file
The easiest way then to store an uploaded file on the file server is to use the move_uploaded_file command that PHP provides, here is how I would achieve this:
$postname = 'file';
$root = '/home/myuser/files';
//cleanse the filename to prevent SQL injections when saving to DB
$filename = preg_replace("/[^a-zA-Z0-9\.]/","_",$_FILES[$postname]['name']);
$path = "$root/$filename";
//Create the files folder if it doesnt already exist...
if(!file_exists($root)) if(!mkdir($root,0775,true)) die("Failed to create root folder $root");
//Store the uploaded file in the files folder
if(!move_uploaded_file($_FILES[$postname]['tmp_name'],$path)) die('Failed to move uploaded file into asset storage');
//Store the file location in the database...
$saveresult = mysqli_query($conn,"INSERT INTO `files` (`filename`,`path`) VALUES ('$filename','$path')");