What are the potential risks and drawbacks of using a timer-based script in PHP for automatic file deletion?

Using a timer-based script for automatic file deletion in PHP can lead to potential risks such as files not being deleted at the expected time due to server downtime or script failures. To mitigate this risk, it is recommended to use a more reliable method such as a cron job to schedule the file deletion task at specific intervals. 

// Example of setting up a cron job to delete files every day at midnight
// Run "crontab -e" and add the following line:
// 0 0 * * * /usr/bin/php /path/to/your/script.php

// script.php
$directory = '/path/to/files/';

// Get current date and time
$current_date = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');

// Loop through files in directory
foreach(glob($directory . '*') as $file) {
    // Check if file creation date is older than a day
    if(filectime($file) < strtotime('-1 day')) {
        // Delete file
        unlink($file);
        echo "File $file deleted.\n";
    }
}

Keywords

timer-based script PHP automatic file deletion risks drawbacks

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