Can I access public:// from inside a module?

Question

I need to load an image that's uploaded to the public folder from within a module

In the module itself:

function mymodule_dashboard() {
   GLOBAL $user;
   $profile = profile2_load_by_user($user->uid, 'personal_information');
   $data['avatar'] = $profile->field_picture['und'][0]['uri'];

In my dashboard.tpl.php:

<img src="<?php echo $data['avatar']; ?>" />

The rendered content:

<img src="public://image.jpg">

I can pull the image name and build the path myself, but I'm looking for a way to actually take advantage of this public folder business

Answer 1

You're looking for the file_create_url() function:

Creates a web-accessible URL for a stream to an external or local file.

e.g.

$data['avatar'] = file_create_url($profile->field_picture['und'][0]['uri']);