Avatars and the field "dateline" from table "customavatar"
 

Hi,



I want to insert the avatar picture of a user into a custom page. I analyzed a plugin from vbulletin.org and I mostly undestand how this is done. The avatar can be found in 2 places: on the file system if it is a "standard" avatar and in the database if it is a "custom" avatar.

The table "avatar" is used for storing the title and path of each standard avatar, while the table "customavatar" is used for storing custom avatars. In order to retrieve a "custom" avatar a php script is invoked: (this is just an example)

www.test.com/image.php?u=1&dateline=1184473496


I understand that the first parameter is used to identify the user to which the avatar belongs. My question is "what is the use for the second parameter ?". I called the script without the second parameter and it served the avatar as expected ! No issues. Is the second parameter really necessary ?

Another question: can anybody call this script without any restrictions ?


Regards,
Razvan M.

it's used for caching, doesn't have a real meaning in for the rest

Can you explain a bit more ? How is this used for caching ?

I am trying to understand the implications for my code. Suppose I am not using this parameter . What is the drawback then ?



Regards,
Razvan M.

When something is cached, it's done by looking at the URL. If the URL is something that has already been downloaded, it will be cached. The dateline part of the URL will be changed, the browser will consider it a different file and will re-download it.

Personally I'm quite happy to ignore the dateline part, since it means that without it avatars can be used anywhere on the forum without an extra query.

Then what is the point is using the dateline in the URL ? I am thinking about the following scenario: a user is changing his avatar but the old avatar appears on some pages because of caching and the user might get confused.


Regards,
Razvan M.