How can files be tracked for downloads without using a database in PHP?

To track file downloads without using a database in PHP, we can utilize file-based tracking. This involves creating a text file to store download counts for each file. Each time a file is downloaded, we increment the count in the text file. This method is simple and effective for tracking downloads without the need for a database. 

<?php
// File to track downloads
$downloadFile = 'downloads.txt';

// Get the file name from the URL parameter
$fileName = $_GET['file'];

// Increment download count for the file
if(file_exists($downloadFile)) {
    $downloads = file_get_contents($downloadFile);
    $downloads = json_decode($downloads, true);
    $downloads[$fileName] = isset($downloads[$fileName]) ? $downloads[$fileName] + 1 : 1;
} else {
    $downloads = [$fileName => 1];
}

// Save the updated download count to the file
file_put_contents($downloadFile, json_encode($downloads));

// Redirect to the file for download
header('Location: ' . $fileName);
exit;
?>

Keywords

file tracking download tracking PHP file handling session management

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