How can PHP be used to store file paths in a database instead of directly inserting files, and what are the advantages of this approach in terms of scalability and performance?

Instead of directly inserting files into a database, you can store file paths in the database and then retrieve the files using these paths in your PHP code. This approach helps in separating the file storage from the database, making it easier to manage and scale. It also improves performance by reducing the size of the database and allowing for faster retrieval of file paths.

// Storing file path in the database
$file_path = 'uploads/file.txt';
$query = "INSERT INTO files (file_path) VALUES ('$file_path')";
// Execute the query to store the file path

// Retrieving file using the stored path
$query = "SELECT file_path FROM files WHERE id = 1";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $query);
$row = mysqli_fetch_assoc($result);
$file_path = $row['file_path'];
$file_content = file_get_contents($file_path);