[accessing files ONLY from php scripts (not from URL)]

I was interested in the same thing. I want to be able to restrict the access to a .jpg file so that only an authorized user can get to it. Using:

 

print("<img src="$imgFolder".$_GET["img"]."">");

}

 

just means that he the user doesn't need to enter the right folder, but he needs to have access to that folder.

 

I have found a workaround, by reading the file into php and doing something like:

 

<img src ="getimage.php?image=filename">

 

getimage.php checks to see if the user has the right access via my authorization code and then I do

 

readfile($filename);

 

The problem is that I think this might be a little slow, particularly if there are a lot of files. Also, the users can't cache the file in the browser - the next time they visit the page, they need to load the images all over again.

 

Does anyone have other ideas, as to how I could limit access to the files using another method?

 

Thanks