Reading files in a directory or attaching a file with a list of files?

Question

PHP

Depending on the type of publication, I need to get a list of images for the carousel. How best to implement? Now scans the publish folder and gets a list of images in it. Maybe it's better to generate a file with an array containing a list of images when adding an article and then connect it?

It is not desirable to store in the database, since there is already an additional request for information about the file to be published.