How do I get the public url of a file from the uri or filename

Question

I'm using php from with a view (Views PHP) I'm trying to extract the real url of a file from a file reference. I am able to get the the uri of the file and or the filename. What drupal function can I use to get thee actual public URL of the file?.

$videouri = db_query('SELECT filename FROM `file_managed` WHERE fid = ' . $nidvideo)->fetchColumn();
//drupal_set_message('<pre>'. print_r($videourl, TRUE) .'</pre>');
$realpath = drupal_realpath($videouri);
$videourl = file_create_url($realpath);
return($videourl);

Answer 1

What do you mean by "public URL" exactly ?

file_create_url() can give the absolute URL to the image out of the box.

$videouri = db_query('SELECT uri FROM {file_managed} WHERE fid = :nidvideo', array(':nidvideo' => $nidvideo))->fetchColumn();
//drupal_set_message('<pre>'. print_r($videourl, TRUE) .'</pre>');
$videourl = file_create_url($videouri);

file_create_url() expects a valid uri. drupal_realpath() gives the server path which does not work.

I also changed your database query to avoid any SQL injection vulnerable.

Answer 2

Don't use drupal_realpath() as it has been deprecated now.

Either of the following can be used:

1. (file_stream_wrapper_get_instance_by_uri($uri)):

$uri = $field[0]['uri'];  // file path as uri: 'public://';
if ($wrapper = file_stream_wrapper_get_instance_by_uri($uri)) {
  $path = $wrapper->realpath();
}

2. (file_create_url($uri)):

$uri = $node->field_video['und'][0]['uri'];  // file path as uri: 'public://';
$video_path = file_create_url($uri);

Answer 3

Check the following example:

$url = file_stream_wrapper_get_instance_by_uri($filepath)->getExternalUrl()

See: API for DrupalPublicStreamWrapper.

Related:

• Why drupal_realpath('public://') returns sites/all/modules/current_module/sites/default/files path?
• How can I convert a file uri to relative path?

Answer 4

In Drupal 8 you can use the file_url_generator service

Drupal::service('file_url_generator')->generateAbsoluteString($uri)

Because the file_create_url($uri) function is deprecated since 9.3:

https://www.drupal.org/node/2940031