Prevent directory listing and files for specific user

I have a folder (/files) and I have tons of files there that users can download. I want users to be able to download their files only and no be able to see others people file.

For example:

User A can only view and download:

- file1.doc
- file2.jpg

User B can only view and download:

- file3.txt
- file4.jpeg

User C can only view and download:

- file1.doc
- file2.jpg
- file3.txt

My idea was to put all files in the same folder so all users knows where to go. My question is: Can I use .htaccess or should I build a PHP scripts for this? What about security (which one is more secure)?

Th开发者_如何学JAVAanks

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Is it an open directory, to start with? What you could do is create a subfolder for each user, put their files in there and then assign appropriate permissions in .htaccess for said folders. However, this would require some security integration with your OS (i.e., users would have to have accounts on your machine, not just your web application)... A quick and dirty -- and insecure -- alternative would be to prepend all uploaded filenames with the username (e.g., 'file1.jpg' uploaded by 'foobar' could be named 'foobar.file1.jpg', for example), then it's just a case of your PHP script returning only those files with the respective username and perhaps stripping that part out when displaying (or again, you could use folders, as long as your script can create a new folder per user, when one doesn't exist). Another option, which is slightly more secure is to create a hash of the file and usernames in a database, rename all uploaded files with this hash and then query the database appropriately.

The best solution would definitely be OS managed accounts, a I first mentioned, but it entails more overhead.

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Build a PHP script where you use readfile to send the file to the browser. This way you can restrict access for individual files, and use the authentication system you already have.

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You can certainly use either htaccess or PHP for this. Neither are more secure, as far as I know, that the other - though done wrong both can permit access where none is intended!

PHP might be marginally better, since you have more flexibility (in terms of integrating it with other PHP authentication, say) and you can put the folder outside the usual web root, which is good practise anyway.