How can I create unique path alias for image styles?

Question

image_style_url returns the public url of an image in the files/styles folder. Is it possible to create alias to that? What I want is the following:

Call image_style_url from the image style and the uri, which gives me typical public url /sites/default/files/style/[style_name]/path/to/image/[image_file_name]. I want to serve simple url like /image/[randomized_number] to the user that will internally alias to the aforementioned public url. This is similar to asking what pathauto module does for /node/[nid], but for image styles.

Note that I do not want custom url to individual images per se, but rather a way to programmatically create unique unpredictable url aliases for image styles.

Answer 1

My answer below assumes that you want to display the image itself and not an image as the main content on a Drupal page (for this you may use Views module).

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I am proposing using the File Entity Paths module. From the module:

It does the same, as Filefield Paths, but focus to the file entity, not to the parent entity...

So you create an alias (let's call it IMAGE_ALIAS) to the file without needing the filename or extension (the MIME type is saved with the file upload) and then you can do these:

1. Create a symlink to sites/default/files/YOUR_IMAGES_PATH so you end up with www.example.com/IMAGE_ALIAS (more can be found at https://www.drupal.org/node/53705)

2. Do a rewrite on Drupal root's .htaccess (more can be found at https://www.drupal.org/node/53705)

    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
    RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /sites/%{HTTP_HOST}/files/$1 [L]
   

3. Use another folder instead of common sites/default/files eg files (on root).

4. Use File Aliases module that does all the above.

Answer 2

Is a little difficult because image_style_url() uses internally image_style_path() who creates the path /sites/default/files/style/[style_name]/path/to/...

Maybe you can use File (Field) Paths module:

The File (Field) Paths module extends the default functionality of Drupal's core Upload module, the FileField module and many other File Upload modules by adding the ability to use node tokens in destination paths and filenames.

In simple terms, File (Field) Paths allows you to automatically sort and rename your uploaded files using token based replacement patterns to maintain a nice clean filesystem.

If you only want to change the path alias you can use hook_node_insert() or hook_insert()

/**
 * Implements hook_insert().
 */
function mymodule_node_insert($node) {
    // Set the URL alias
    if (empty($node->path['alias'])) {
        $node->path['alias'] = 'image/' . my_random_function();
    }
}

Answer 3

Have you tried File Aliases?

The File Aliases module allows you to use token customizable aliases for your uploaded files, giving you the ability to keep your file system organized as per usual while providing clean looking paths (i.e., no more '/sites/default/files/').

I've not tested it nor use it, but it seems to be the right module for your problem.

Answer 4

There's a hook for altering the file url when it's being created:

hook_file_url_alter

You should be able to call that hook and then use the path functions to create an alias for a style if it doesn't exist. https://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/includes%21path.inc/7