What are some recommended database design strategies for efficiently storing and retrieving multiple file names associated with a single entity in PHP?

When storing multiple file names associated with a single entity in PHP, one recommended database design strategy is to create a separate table to store the file names, with a foreign key linking them to the entity. This allows for efficient retrieval of all file names associated with the entity. Another strategy is to use a JSON or serialized array to store multiple file names in a single database column. This can simplify the database structure and make it easier to manage the file names. 

// Create a table to store file names associated with an entity
CREATE TABLE files (
    id INT PRIMARY KEY AUTO_INCREMENT,
    entity_id INT,
    file_name VARCHAR(255),
    FOREIGN KEY (entity_id) REFERENCES entities(id)
);

// Insert file names associated with an entity
INSERT INTO files (entity_id, file_name) VALUES (1, 'file1.jpg');
INSERT INTO files (entity_id, file_name) VALUES (1, 'file2.jpg');

// Retrieve all file names associated with an entity
$entityId = 1;
$sql = "SELECT file_name FROM files WHERE entity_id = :entity_id";
$stmt = $pdo->prepare($sql);
$stmt->bindParam(':entity_id', $entityId);
$stmt->execute();
$files = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);

// Output the file names
foreach ($files as $file) {
    echo $file['file_name'] . "\n";
}

Keywords

database design efficient storage multiple file names entity PHP

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