Automatically update links to files in specific folder

[IanFraz]

Hopefully someone can help me with some coding issues that Im having

 

 

Back Story

I have a website that has hundreds of thousands of PDFS that are listed and linked on a web server 

The layout on the server is /PDFS/1-4/file.pdf etc etc

and on the site its listed <a href="/PDF/1-4/1 ACADEMIC SQ.pdf" target="_blank">1 ACADEMIC SQ</a><br>

 

Ive been manually changing the file names in the link when a new file is added to the server.

 

I want to automate the proccess where when a file is added to the "PDF/1-4/" folder  itll update the webpage 1-4.html etc with the new links and sorted alphabetically 

 

Im VERY new to PHP and so far the only thing that I have is but its not working 

<?php 
$dirname = '/var/www/download_folder';
$webdirname = '/download_folder';

$dir = opendir($dirname); 
$file_list = ''; 

while(($file = readdir($dir)) != false) { 
if(($file != '.') && ($file != '..')) { 
$file_list .= "<a href=\"$webdirname/$file\">$file</a><br/>"; 
} 
} 

closedir($dir); 
?> 

<p> 
<?=$file_list?> 
</p>

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated 

[Jacques1]

You said you want to update some static HTML file, but “your” code (which I assume you have copied and pasted from somewhere) has nothing to do with that at all. It generates a list of files dynamically. So what is it?

 

A dynamic list is definitely the better approach. However, it makes no sense to print the entire directory content. If you want a simple directory listing, use your webserver. Apache, nginx etc. all have this feature. If you want a more intelligent approach (pagination, meta data, previews, ...), I recommend you store references to your files in a database where you can manage them properly. PHP usually comes with MySQL, so all you have to do is learn a few SQL basics – which you'll need anyway, sooner or later.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Jacques1

[requinix]

On the simple directory listing:

 

Make sure you don't have an index.php or .html or .anything in the PDF directory or any of its subdirectories. Now go to /PDF in your browser. What happens? If you get a 403 Forbidden page then that can be fixed, but there's a good chance you'll get a listing of all the files and directories in there. And with no* work on your part.

 

* Your experience may vary.