Laravel 7.28 "the file does not exist error - php

Question

i'm building a project with laravel 7.28. i list all of documents with foreach without a problem. then i listed and linked all of the documents like this
#foreach($customer->documents as $document)
<div class="col-md-2">
#if($document->extension == 'pdf')
<a href="{{ route('downloadDocument', $document->id) }}">
<img src="/assets/images/pdf_icon.png" alt="">
</a>
#endif
#if($document->extension == 'doc' || $document->extension == 'docx')
<a href="{{ route('downloadDocument', $document->id) }}">
<img src="/assets/images/docx_icon.png" alt="">
</a>
#endif
#if($document->extension == 'xlsx')
<a href="{{ route('downloadDocument', $document->id) }}">
<img src="/assets/images/xlsx_icon.png" alt="">
</a>
#endif
#if($document->extension == 'jpg' || $document->extension == 'jpeg'|| $document->extension == 'png'|| $document->extension == 'svg')
<a href="{{ route('downloadDocument', $document->id) }}">
<img src="/assets/images/photo1.png" alt="">
</a>
#endif
</div>
#endforeach
then i wrote route like this;
Route::get('downloadDocument/{id}', 'CustomerController#downloadDocument')->name('downloadDocument');
downloadDocument function is;
public function downloadDocument($id)
{
$path = '/assets/uploads/customers/';
$file = Upload::findOrFail($id);
$pathToFile = $path . $file->media;
return response()->download($pathToFile);
}
i'm sure that i have that file on database and on server or local. although i get error;
is there anyone to help me?

Answer 1

URL Path vs System Path
I believe you're confusing URL path from system path.
Browser see files with URL paths like this (http://foobar.com/assets/uploads/customers/xxx.png). When you print things to the template, the files are referenced in HTML as URL path. A path like /assets/uploads/customers/xxx.png is simply
URL with implicit domain.
From the server program perspective, the file is stored in your harddisk with system paths like:
C:\My Websites\foobar\public\assets\uploads\customers\xxx.png (Windows); or
/home/foobar/web/public/assets/uploads/customers/xxx.png (Linux or Macos).
So, although these paths look different, they might be referencing the same file. Just from different perspective.
How to correctly build $pathToFile?
The $pathToFile parameter of download needs to be the system path to the file. I don't believe the png file is at /assets/uploads/customers/xxx.png in your system (Putting an assets folder in system root / or C:\ is quite unusual).
If the assets/ folder is in your Laravel's public/ folder, you can rewrite your method with public_path() like this:
public function downloadDocument($id)
{
// Note: remove leading slash
$path = 'assets/uploads/customers/';
$file = Upload::findOrFail($id);
// Note: apply public_path() helper function
$pathToFile = public_path($path . $file->media);
return response()->download($pathToFile);
}
Documentation about public_path() in Laravel 7.x:
public_path()
The public_path function returns the fully qualified path to the public directory. You may also use the public_path function to generate a fully qualified path to a given file within the public directory:
$path = public_path();
$path = public_path('css/app.css');