file-handler.md

File handler

InitPHP\Cache\Handler\File stores each item as one PHP-serialised file named {prefix}{key} inside a directory you choose. It needs no extension beyond the PHP core, which makes it a good default and ideal for development.

Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
prefix	string	cache_	Prepended to keys; also filters clear().
path	string	(required)	Directory the cache files live in.
mode	int|null	0640	chmod() mode applied to each file. Set null to skip chmod().

Usage

use InitPHP\Cache\Cache;
use InitPHP\Cache\Handler\File;

$cache = Cache::create(File::class, [
    'path' => __DIR__ . '/var/cache',
    'mode' => 0640,
]);

$cache->set('settings', ['theme' => 'dark'], 3600);
$cache->get('settings');

The path directory must exist and be writable. If path is missing or empty, operations that touch the filesystem throw a CacheException.

How it works

• Each item is serialize()d together with its creation time and TTL.
• On read, an expired file is deleted and treated as a miss.
• clear() removes only files matching {prefix}*, and never deletes the protective files .htaccess, index.htm, index.html, index.php or web.config.

Notes

• Keep the cache directory out of the web root, or protect it (the cleared protective files above exist for directories that cannot be moved).
• Cache files are read with unserialize(). Point path only at a directory your application controls — never at attacker-influenced content.
• Very high item counts in a single flat directory can slow the filesystem; pick a backend like Redis for large, hot caches.