Best way to track (direct) file downloads

Question

what is the best method to track direct file downloads? I found some solution, for example this one:

http://www.gayadesign.com/diy/download-counter-in-php-using-htacces

Answer 1

Two modifications I have made on the original answer in order for the code to work with PHP7.3 , Mysqli and Mariadb engine:

1. For me, "mysqly_real_escape_string" did not work, so instead I used "basename($_GET['file'])"

2: Mariadb SQL does not accept "SET" after "UPDATE" thus i used "ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE stats = stats + 1"

As a result I have posted a new question here:Download counter for direct download links using .htaccess, mysql and php

See full code below...

alert('$msg');";
}

?>