Store a JSON data in a temp File, and delete after 24 hours?

Question

How can I store JSON Data temporary on my Apache Server. In the JSON are some user information. It would be really nice if the files would delete every 24 hours themselves.

$json_array = array(); 
 while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) 
 { 
 $json_array[] = $row; 
 } 

 $final_array = json_encode($json_array);

So like this I create the JSON File, and I could also Store this in a .json File but how can i create temp Files with this data in it. And this File should only be readable from the server.

Have you tried anything? If you can share the code which you tried, then the community can help. — Nikhil, Mar 14 '19 at 06:49
To write to file you can use fwrite. For deleting, you can use cron-tab to clear the file's content every 24h — , Mar 14 '19 at 06:54
Your code doesn't create any file, it just store the JSON into a variable. — , Mar 14 '19 at 06:56
@catcon Yeah I know I just want to show how I create the JSON data. — , Mar 14 '19 at 06:57

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 14 '19 at 07:03

0

Why did you think this much ? why not trying php session or cookie for 24hrs or browser js localStorage ?

if need Temp file ,create file in Apache server using php-Apache file creation and writing methods after 24hrs delete that file using Cron Job

answered Mar 14 '19 at 07:03

Anandhukrishna VR

279
4
19

Thx for ur answer. – Mar 14 '19 at 07:35

Nikola Kirincic · Accepted Answer · 2019-03-14T09:42:01.550

Use file_put_contents to store data, but create some prefix for each user, so you can have separate files, and retrieve them after:

 $json_array = array(); 
 while($row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result)) 
 { 
 $json_array[] = $row; 
 } 

 $final_array = json_encode($json_array);
 $generatedName = 'userIDprefix_userData' .  '.json'; //replace userIDprefix with user ID, this way we can use prefix to store different files per user, and retrieve file for user
 //use file put contents to store data 
 file_put_contents('path/to/json/data/' . $generatedName , $final_array);

Use file_get_contents() to retrieve file data:

 $generatedName = 'userIDprefix_userData' .  '.json'; //replace userIDprefix with user ID, this way we can use prefix to store different files per user, and retrieve file for user
 //use file put contents to store data 
 $userJSONData = file_get_contents('path/to/json/data/' . $generatedName );

And then setup the cron to run say each 5 minutes, use glob and filemtime to scan the dir where you store data and filemtime to get timestamp of file, to compare with current date and delete if it is older than 24h

$past24hours = strtotime('-24 hours');
foreach (glob("path/to/json/data/*.json") as $filename) {
   if( filemtime($filename) < $past24hours ){
     unlink($filename);
    }
}

Setup cron to execute the file where the script for json files deletion is to be run say, every 10 minutes:

*/10 * * * * /usr/bin/php /path/to/script/to/delete-json.php

Note:

Do not set permissions to 777 to this folder, at least 775, or even 755. Also, to prevent from accessing .json files directly, put in this folder at least blank index.php, and .htaccess with content:

#forbid access to folders and to files  
 RewriteEngine on 
 RewriteRule \.(json|txt)$ - [F] 
 deny from all

Thanks a lot. Is it right that I have to change the folder permissions on the Data folder to 777? — , Mar 14 '19 at 07:27
@User9123, not unless you want them accessible publicly and they are stored in publicly accessible path. Otherwise, folder should be set at least to 775, or even 755, so that way only owner, and/or group has all permissions, and other ( world ) will have only read and execute — Nikola Kirincic, Mar 14 '19 at 07:52
Problem is I have no Security on this Data Folder. So everbody who knows the File name can read the .json. Any suggestion? — , Mar 14 '19 at 08:02
@User9123, add blank index.php, and .htaccess within that directory with directive as mentioned in my edited answer at the bottom. — Nikola Kirincic, Mar 14 '19 at 08:06
I think I have to activate .htaccess because I never worked with it. And Im not sure with the permissions. If I take 777 everthing works but with 775 or 755 I get some errors — , Mar 14 '19 at 09:54
And its creating two Files at one Login but otherwise everthing works — , Mar 14 '19 at 10:02

Store a JSON data in a temp File, and delete after 24 hours?

2 Answers2