Laravel, getting uploaded file's url - laravel

Question

I'm currently working on a Laravel 5.5 project, where I want to upload files, and then, I want to get their url back of the file (I have to use it client side).
now my code looks like this:
public function pdfUploader(Request $request)
{
Log::debug('pdfUploader is called. ' . $request);
if ($request->hasFile('file') && $request->file('file')->isValid()) {
$extension = $request->file->extension();
$fileName = 'tmp' . round(microtime(true) * 1000) . '.' . $extension;
$path = $request->file->storeAs('temp', $fileName);
return ['status' => 'OK', 'path' => URL::asset($path)];
}
return ['status' => 'NOT_SAVED'];
}
It works fine, I got back the OK status, and the path, but when I want to use the path, I got HTTP 404. I checked, the file is uploaded fine..
My thought is, I should register the new url in the routes. If I have to, how can I do it dynamically, and if its not necessary what is wrong with my function?
Thx the answers in advance.

Answer 1

By default laravel store all uploaded files into storage directory, for example if you call $request->file->storeAs('temp', 'file.txt'); laravel will create temp folder in storage/app/ and put your file there:
$request->file->storeAs('temp', 'file.txt'); => storage/app/temp/file.txt
$request->file->storeAs('public', 'file.txt'); => storage/app/public/file.txt
However, if you want to make your uploaded files accessible from the web, there are 2 ways to do that:
Move your uploaded file into the public directory
$request->file->move(public_path('temp'), $fileName); // => public/temp/file.txt
URL::asset('temp/'.$fileName); // http://example.com/temp/file.txt
NOTE: make sure that your web server has permissions to write to the public directory
Create a symbolic link from storage directory to public directory
php artisan storage:link
This command will create a symbolic link from public/storage to storage/app/public, in this case we can store our files into storage/app/public and make them accessible from the web via symlinks:
$request->file->storeAs('public', $fileName); // => storage/app/public/file.txt
URL::asset('storage/'.$fileName); // => http://example.com/stoage/file.txt