file_get_contents causes a 404 error

After a bit more digging, I now understand.

In my Apache VirtualHost configuration, I had (among other things)

Code:

<VirtualHost *:80>
  <Directory "/">
    DirectoryIndex index.php
    ErrorDocument 404 /
  </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

which means that any 404 document was getting handled by /index.php which of course then routed it properly and displayed the page correctly.
Removing the ErrorDocument directive then caused a URL such as
http://www.domain.com/storage/item/57d952d0a09d0
to break, whereas in the form
http://www.domain.com/index.php/storage/item/57d952d0a09d0
it works properly.

Having now also discovered the FallbackResource directive, my VirtualHost will look more like

Code:

<VirtualHost *:80>
  <Directory "/">
    DirectoryIndex index.php
  </Directory>
    
  FallbackResource /index.php
</VirtualHost>

since the fallback means there should never be a 404...

So now everything is working as I expected it to with my first cut code. Happy days.

Hopefully this information will ease someone else's pain in the future...

Best wishes,
Gordon