'Expiring" Data

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Warren Michelsen

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Aug 6, 2010, 1:46:43 PM8/6/10

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I have a php driven site that stores data on a temporary basis but, after a week, no longer needs the data or the links to expired data.

The data submit form writes the data to a data file that is included into the ViewData form. It also adds a link into a links files. So, it writes: [serial]data.php to contain the data and then writes one line to "DataList.incl" adding a link to the newly submitted data.

The ViewData form includes DataList.incl containing the links to the various data files themselves.

Basically, I'm looking for a way to "expire" both the data files and links after a week or so.

It's easy enough to write a script to delete the old data files but the links in DataList.incl are another matter. I could tag the links with a date tag (YYYYMMDD) or something but would need another script to periodically parse DataList.incl and delete lines with data tags older than a week.

That is, I could write link lines in DataList.incl like:
<a href="ViewData.html?serial=45182">45182</a>

Then, once a day, run a script that deletes [serial]data.php files where the create date is older than a week and then parses DataList.incl to remove those lines with date tags a week old.

Are any of you currently "expiring" files and links like this?

Assuming that I go ahead and tag each link with YYYYMMDD, can removal of old links within DataList.incl be done with php or will that require Perl or some such?

Scout

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Aug 7, 2010, 10:39:16 PM8/7/10

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Hey Mikey! Why don't you store the serial numbers in a database table
along with an expiration date? Then build your form dynamically after
selecting all the serials which have expiration dates after today (or
yesterday.)

-scout

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