CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpfile-uploadpattern-matchingmatchgif
Jeromie Devera
Jeromie Devera

Reputation: 376

How to check if a particular file already exists by using an uploaded file to find a match in PHP

giphy.com, during an upload, somehow recognizes if a particular GIF animation has already been uploaded to their servers. and I was wondering how I can replicate that using PHP in a very efficient (low-server intensive) manner?

The only way I can think of doing this is by looping between all the files on my server (which I would think would be a highly server intensive task) and trying to find a match (and by match, I don't mean filename; I mean if the exact same gif was uploaded (the exact file regardless of the filename)).

But I'm not too sure of what particular PHP functions I'd have to use.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 85

Answers (1)

Lorenz Meyer
Lorenz Meyer

Reputation: 19915

Use a database. At each upload you calculate a md5 hash of the file ( using md5_file ) and you store that in the database. Looking up the database to see if the hash already exists will be very fast.

Upvotes: 3

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