How to generate an image that is a link? - cakephp

Question

Right now my image links look like this:
I need them to look like this:
My Images are stored in APP/uploads/userid/images/filename.jpg
This is my view at the moment:
<?php foreach($file as $files){?>
<?php echo $this->Html->link($files['Image']['filename'], array('controller' => 'images', 'action' => 'downloadImages', $files['Image']['filename']), array('class' => 'frame'));}?>
It works and clicking the link shows the relevant image correctly.
Controller snippet for reference:
public function downloadImages($filename) {
$download = !empty($_GET['download']);
$idUser = $this->Auth->user('idUser');
$folder_url = APP.'uploads/'.$idUser.'/'.'images'.'/'.$filename;
$this->response->file($folder_url, array('download' => $download, 'name' => $filename));
return $this->response;
}
What do I need to do to make images display as links instead of the name of the file?

Answer 1

How to generate an image link
In the question there is this line (paraphrased for clarity):
$downloadUrl = array('controller' => 'images', 'action' => 'downloadImages', $files['Image']['filename'], '?' => array('download' => true));
$imageUrl = array('controller' => 'images', 'action' => 'downloadImages', $files['Image']['filename']);
echo $this->Html->link(
$files['Image']['filename'],
$downloadUrl,
array('class' => 'frame')
);
Instead of linking to the filename - link to the image:
echo $this->Html->link(
$this->Html->image($imageUrl),
$downloadUrl,
array('class' => 'frame', 'escape' => false)
);
OR use the image function directly, since the image function supports that:
echo $this->Html->image(
$imageUrl,
array(
'url' => $downloadUrl
)
);

Answer 2

Here is a copy of y GemsImageComponent that I use to push images to the browser from disk. It handles caching, and uses the file timestamp to see if the image should sent again, or if the browser's current cached version is up to date.
Please up-vote if you find this useful.
<?php
/**
* $settings['cache'] string (optional) How long the browser should cache
* images.
* $settings['expires'] string (optional) If all images should expire after a
* given period from the browsers cache.
*/
class GemsImageComponent extends Component
{
/**
*
* #var array The default settings for the component.
*/
protected $defaults = array(
'cache' => '+7 days',
'expires' => false
);
/**
*
* #var Controller The controller using this component.
*/
protected $controller;
/**
*
* #see Component::__construct()
*/
public function __construct(ComponentCollection $collection,
$settings = array())
{
parent::__construct($collection,
Hash::merge($this->defaults, $settings));
}
/**
*
* #see Component::startup()
*/
public function startup(Controller $controller)
{
$this->controller = $controller;
}
/**
* Sends an image from disk to the browser.
*
* #param string $file The full path to the image file.
* #return mixed The value that the View should return.
*/
public function send($file)
{
$response = $this->controller->response;
$settings = $this->settings;
// the file has to exist
if(! file_exists($file))
{
throw new NotFoundException();
}
// set browser cache options
if($settings['cache'] !== false)
{
$response->cache('-1 minute', $settings['cache']);
}
if($settings['expires'] !== false)
{
$response->expires($settings['expires']);
}
// mark this image with a timestamp of when it last changed.
$timestamp = filemtime($file);
$response->modified($timestamp);
// generate a unique ID that browser cache engines can use to track this
// resource.
// TODO: Add GEMS version number to the hash tag.
$unique = sha1(sprintf('%s-%d', $file, $timestamp));
$response->etag($unique);
// check if we can abort sending this resource
if(! $response->checkNotModified($this->controller->request))
{
$response->file($file, array(
'download' => false
));
}
return $response;
}
}
?>