I use the following to keep webserver-generated links (and files) valid for three hours:
#[snip]#
# Finally, remove old spreadsheets from temporary directory
opendir(TMPD, $tmpdir) or die "No tmp Directory! $! \n";
while (my $f = readdir(TMPD))
{
if ($f =~ /\.xls$/)
{
if ((-A "$tmpdir/$f") > 0.125) # if file is older than 3 hours, de
+lete it
{
system('rm', '-f', "$tmpdir/$f")
&& die "Can't remove $f: $!\n";
}
}
}
closedir(TMPD);
#[snip]#
The files and the directory need to be writable by the webserver, but since earlier incarnations of the same page create them, that is not a problem.