Ask Ben: Creating An Archive Folder / File List (Part II)

Posted February 24, 2007 at 10:38 AM by Ben Nadel

A while back, I was asked how to make a simple ColdFusion page that would allow the viewing of archive folders and their contents. At the time, the page was designed to handle a single list of directories and then a single list of sub-files. I have been asked to update that code to allow for sub-directories and sub-sub-directories (you get the point).

Below is the updated code that allows for a single page to point to a directory and drill down through all the sub directories. All files are linked directly. All sub folders get viewed via the URL.folder variable that keeps getting passed back to the same ColdFusion script.

I am not taking into account the different slashes on different platforms. For this demo, the backward slash is considered a "server" slash for a server path and the forward slash is considered a "web" slash for web-based paths (ie. URLs).

<cfsilent>
<!---
This is the name of the archive folder for which we
want to list out the archive documents and sub folders.
--->
<cfparam
name="URL.folder"
type="string"
default=""
/>
<cfset URL.folder = UrlDecode( URL.folder ) />
<!---
For security reasons, we want to get rid of any suspect
values in the folder variable. These include "../"
which would go to a parent directory or "/" which will
go to the root perhaps.
--->
<cfset URL.folder = URL.folder.ReplaceAll(
"(\.\.[\\/])+", ""
).ReplaceAll(
"([\\/]){2,}", "$1"
) />
<!---
Set the directory path of the root archive
directory (this one). This is the folder in which
you want to allow users to browse archive folders
and files.
--->
<cfset strRoot = ExpandPath( "./" ) />
<!---
Check to see if we have an archive folder selected.
If we do, then we want to query that one. If not,
then we want to get the list of all the archive folders.
Furthermore, if we have an archive folder, just
check to make sure the folder exists.
--->
<cfif (
Len( URL.folder ) AND
DirectoryExists( strRoot & "\" & URL.folder )
)>
<cfset strQueryPath = (strRoot & "\" & URL.folder) />
<!---
Add the trailing slash to the folder for use with
further linking. Going foward, we can assume the
the folder variable will have this trailing slash.
--->
<cfset URL.folder = (URL.folder & "\") />
<cfelse>
<!---
We have no archive folder selected (or it did not
exist). Query the root directory.
--->
<cfset strQueryPath = strRoot />
<!---
Reset the folder variable so we don't get confused
later on.
--->
<cfset URL.folder = "" />
</cfif>
<!---
Query for the files / folders in the selected
directory (might be root OR an archive folder).
--->
<cfdirectory
action="LIST"
directory="#strQueryPath#"
recurse="false"
name="qDirectoryList"
/>
</cfsilent>
<cfoutput>
<html>
<head>
<title>Document Archive</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>
Document Archive
</h1>
<!---
Check to see if we are deeper than the root directory.
We will know that we are if our folder variable has
some value in it. If it does, we will provide tools
to jump up a single directory or to go back to the
archivee root.
--->
<cfif Len( URL.folder )>
<h2>
#URL.folder#
</h2>
<p>
« <a href="#CGI.script_name#">Back to Archive Root</a>
</p>
<!---
When outputting the parent directory path, be sure
to strip out the last directory and traililng slash
from the existing folder path.
--->
<p>
« <a href="#CGI.script_name#?folder=#UrlEncodedFormat( URL.folder.ReplaceAll( "[\\/]?[^\\/]+[\\/]?$", "" ) )#">Back to Parent Directory</a>
</p>
<hr />
</cfif>
<!---
Loop over directory list. This may contain both files
and folders. If we come across a folder or sub
directory, then we will provide a link to view that
directory (through the archive viewer). If we come
across a file, we will link directly to that file.
--->
<cfloop query="qDirectoryList">
<!---
Check to see if we are dealing with a sub folder.
--->
<cfif (qDirectoryList.Type EQ "Dir")>
<!---
We are dealing with a directory. Add this folder
name to the folder path we are sending back
in the URL. Since we are dealing with a server
path at this point, replace any "Web" slashes
with "server" slashes... / -to- \.
--->
<p>
<a href="#CGI.script_name#?folder=#UrlEncodedFormat( URL.folder.ReplaceAll( "/", "\\" ) & qDirectoryList.name )#">#qDirectoryList.name#</a> »
</p>
<cfelse>
<!---
We are dealing with a file. Output the link
to the file from the root directory (since
that is where we still are from the browser's).
standpoint. Include the name of the sub folder
in the path. Since we are dealing with a web
path, replace all "server" slashes with "web"
slashes... \ -to- /.
--->
<p>
<a href="./#URL.folder.ReplaceAll( "\\", "/" )##qDirectoryList.name#">#qDirectoryList.name#</a>
</p>
</cfif>
</cfloop>
</body>
</html>
</cfoutput>

Hope that helps.

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