unlink() not working while I try to remove an image PHP

Question

I am trying to remove an image from a directory using the unlink() function.

if (file_exists($oldPicture)) {
    unlink($oldPicture);
    echo 'Deleted old image';
} 
else {
    echo 'Image file does not exist';
}

The value of $oldPicture is ../images/50/56/picture.jpg.

The follow block of code runs without any errors however when I check the directory the image is still there.

Am I doing something wrong here?

Thanks

Answer 1

"@Fred-ii- Yeah everyone is right, I am getting denied permission...any idea how I can fix this? P.S. that error reporting is amazing, it will really help me thanks for that! – BigRabbit"

Use chmod on the file before unlinking it:

if (file_exists($oldPicture)) {

// last resort setting
// chmod($oldPicture, 0777);
chmod($oldPicture, 0644);
    unlink($oldPicture);
    echo 'Deleted old image';
} 
else {
    echo 'Image file does not exist';
}

• http://php.net/manual/en/function.chmod.php

A last resort setting would be using 0777 as in the commented code.

---

"How would I use var_dump() to check folder/file permissions?"

• It's not to check for permissions but to check what is being passed through that variable.

I.e.: var_dump($oldPicture);

if (file_exists($oldPicture)) {

var_dump($oldPicture);

// last resort setting
// chmod($oldPicture, 0777);
chmod($oldPicture, 0644);
    unlink($oldPicture);
    echo 'Deleted old image';
} 
else {
    echo 'Image file does not exist';
}

---

Add error reporting to the top of your file(s) which will help find errors.

<?php 
error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set('display_errors', 1);

// rest of your code

Sidenote: Error reporting should only be done in staging, and never production.