What are common pitfalls to avoid when working with directories and file paths in PHP scripts like imagegallery.php?

Common pitfalls to avoid when working with directories and file paths in PHP scripts like imagegallery.php include not checking for the existence of directories before trying to create or access them, not properly sanitizing user input to prevent directory traversal attacks, and not handling file path separators correctly for different operating systems. To avoid these pitfalls, always check if directories exist before trying to create or access them, sanitize user input using functions like realpath() or basename() to prevent directory traversal attacks, and use the DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR constant to handle file path separators dynamically. 

// Check if directory exists before creating it
$directory = 'images/';
if (!file_exists($directory)) {
    mkdir($directory, 0777, true);
}

// Sanitize user input to prevent directory traversal attacks
$user_input = $_GET['image'];
$safe_image = basename($user_input);

// Handle file path separators for different operating systems
$image_path = 'images' . DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR . $safe_image;

Keywords

directory file path PHP scripts imagegallery.php pitfalls

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