Laravel 12 Tutorial: File Listing and Delete Functionality

In this tutorial, we’ll walk through building a robust file upload and management system using Laravel, including:

Uploading multiple files
Storing metadata in the database
Listing files using DataTables
Supporting download and delete actions
Enforcing permissions based on user roles

Route Definitions

Define your upload-related routes in web.php using a Controller group:

// ------------------------- Form Upload ----------------------------//
Route::controller(FormController::class)->group(function () {
    Route::middleware('auth')->group(function () {
        Route::get('form/upload/page', 'index')->name('form/upload/page');            // Show upload form
        Route::post('form/upload/save', 'storeFileUpload')->name('form/upload/save'); // Handle upload
        Route::get('form/upload/listing', 'showFiles')->name('form/upload/listing');  // Show uploaded files
        Route::get('form/file/listing', 'getData')->name('get-data-file.listing');    // DataTables JSON
        Route::get('/download/{filename}', 'download')->name('file.download');        // Download a file
        Route::post('delete-file', 'destroy')->name('delete-file');                   // Delete a file
    });
});

File Listing Blade View

Inside resources/views/form/listing.blade.php:

@extends('layouts.master')

@section('content')
<div class="row">
    <div class="col-lg-12 mx-auto">
        <div class="d-flex justify-content-between mb-3">
            <div class="fw-bold">File Listing</div>
            <div>
                <a href="{{ route('home') }}" class="fw-semibold text-decoration-none">Dashboard</a>
            </div>
        </div>
        <div class="card p-3 shadow-sm">
            <div class="table-responsive">
                <table id="fileListing" class="table table-striped nowrap w-100">
                    <thead>
                        <tr>
                            <th>Actions</th>
                            <th>No</th>
                            <th>File Name</th>
                            <th>Upload Name</th>
                            <th>Date Uploaded</th>
                        </tr>
                    </thead>
                    <tbody></tbody>
                </table>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>

<!-- Delete Modal -->
<div class="modal fade" id="modalDeleteFile" tabindex="-1">
    <div class="modal-dialog modal-dialog-centered">
        <div class="modal-content">
            <form action="{{ route('delete-file') }}" method="POST">
                @csrf
                <div class="modal-header">
                    <h5 class="modal-title">Delete File</h5>
                    <button type="button" class="btn-close" data-bs-dismiss="modal"></button>
                </div>
                <div class="modal-body text-center">
                    Are you sure you want to delete <strong id="d_name" class="text-danger"></strong>?
                </div>
                <input type="hidden" id="d_filename" name="filename">
                <div class="modal-footer justify-content-center">
                    <button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-primary" data-bs-dismiss="modal">Cancel</button>
                    <button type="submit" class="btn btn-outline-danger">Delete</button>
                </div>
            </form>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
@endsection

@section('script')
<script>
$(function() {
    const table = $('#fileListing').DataTable({
        lengthMenu: [[10, 25, 50, 100], [10, 25, 50, 100]],
        buttons: ['pageLength'],
        pageLength: 10,
        order: [[4, 'desc']],
        scrollX: true,
        processing: true,
        serverSide: true,
        ajax: "{{ route('get-data-file.listing') }}",
        columns: [
            { data: 'action', orderable: false, searchable: false },
            { data: 'id' },
            { data: 'filename' },
            { data: 'upload_name' },
            { data: 'uploaded_at' },
        ]
    });

    $(document).on('click', '.fileDelete', function() {
        const filename = $(this).data('filename');
        $('#d_filename').val(filename);
        $('#d_name').text(filename);
        $('#modalDeleteFile').modal('show');
    });
});
</script>
@endsection

Controller Logic

Your FormController.php handles all the backend logic:

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\{Storage, Auth, Log};
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Models\Upload;
use Carbon\Carbon;
use Exception;

class FormController extends Controller
{
    public function showFiles()
    {
        return view('form.fileslisting');
    }

    public function getData(Request $request)
    {
        $query = Upload::query();
        $total = $query->count();

        $search = $request->get('search')['value'];
        if ($search) {
            $query->where(function($q) use ($search) {
                $q->orWhere('filename', 'like', "%$search%")
                  ->orWhere('upload_name', 'like', "%$search%")
                  ->orWhere('uploaded_at', 'like', "%$search%");
            });
        }

        $filtered = $query->count();
        $records = $query->orderBy(
            $request->get('columns')[$request->get('order')[0]['column']]['data'],
            $request->get('order')[0]['dir']
        )
        ->skip($request->get('start'))
        ->take($request->get('length'))
        ->get();

        $userRole = Auth::user()->role_name;
        $permissions = config('roles')[$userRole] ?? [];

        $data = $records->map(function ($item, $index) use ($request, $permissions) {
            return [
                'action' => in_array('delete', $permissions)
                    ? '<button class="btn btn-danger btn-sm fileDelete" data-filename="'.$item->filename.'"><i class="bi bi-trash"></i></button>'
                    : '',
                'id' => $request->get('start') + $index + 1,
                'filename' => '<a href="'.route('file.download', $item->filename).'" class="filename" data-filename="'.$item->filename.'">'.$item->filename.'</a>',
                'upload_name' => $item->upload_name,
                'uploaded_at' => $item->uploaded_at,
            ];
        });

        return response()->json([
            "draw" => intval($request->get('draw')),
            "iTotalRecords" => $total,
            "iTotalDisplayRecords" => $filtered,
            "aaData" => $data
        ]);
    }

    public function download($filename)
    {
        $path = "uploads/$filename";
        if (!Storage::disk('public')->exists($path)) {
            abort(404);
        }

        return Storage::disk('public')->download($path);
    }

    public function destroy(Request $request)
    {
        try {
            $file = Upload::where('filename', $request->filename)->firstOrFail();
            Storage::disk('public')->delete('uploads/' . $file->filename);
            $file->delete();

            return back()->with('success', 'File deleted successfully.');
        } catch (Exception $e) {
            Log::error('Delete error: '.$e->getMessage());
            return back()->with('error', 'Failed to delete file.');
        }
    }
}

Upload Model Example

Ensure you have the Upload model like so:

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Upload extends Model
{
    protected $fillable = [
        'filename', 'upload_name', 'uploaded_at'
    ];

    public $timestamps = false;
}

Final Notes

Role permissions are assumed to be configured in config/roles.php
Bootstrap 5 and jQuery DataTables are used for UI
File validation ensures safe formats and size limits

Demo Features

Feature	Description
Upload	Multiple file upload with validation
Listing	Paginated & searchable DataTable
Delete	Soft-confirmation via modal
Download	Direct secure download from public disk
Permissions	Role-based button visibility

Souy Soeng