uploading files with php, $_FILES array

[davidpj]

I am building an online photo directory for a cousin of mine. Each user will be able to upload an image. The books and websites I have read on how to do this use the $_FILES array or something similar.

Consider the following form as an example:

<form action="<?php $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?>" enctype="multi-part/form-data" method="post">
<input type=file name="userfile">
<input type=submit>
</form>

Some of my books say that when a file is specified and the form posted, PHP will create a few variables. In this example they should be:

$userfile, $userfile_name, $userfile_type, and $userfile_size

These should also be able to be accessed with the following:

$FILES['userfile']['name'];
$FILES['userfile']['type'];
$_FILES['userfile']['size'];

I can't seem to access these variables, they have no values. Below is a simple test script I have been trying to get working:

<?php

            if(!empty($_POST['userfile']))
{
	$filename = $_FILES['userfile']['name'];
	$filetype = $_FILES['userfile']['type'];
	$filesize = $_FILES['userfile']['size'];

	//Should print out variable values to screen
                             echo "filename: $filename<br>",
	          "filetype: $filetype<br>",
	          "filesize: $filesize<br>";
}

?>

<form action="<?php $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?>" enctype="multi-part/form-data" method="post">
<input type=file name="userfile">
<input type=submit>
</form>

When I post this form, with a specified file as "userfile", php prints

filename:
filetype:

filesize:

to the screen - with no values. Does anyone know why no values are appearing? The books have become useless as they all assume the above code works. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks.

David

[bretticus]

wow, everything looks right. That is a simple test too. The ONLY thing I see is that in your form you have the following syntax:

<?php $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?>

in...

<form action="<?php $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?>" enctype="multi-part/form-data" method="post">...

without an echo print or = , <?php $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?> should render blank. Now, I'm not up-to-date on the POST standards, but not having the actual URL in there may be a problem.

[davidpj]

Good observation, that's quite odd. <?php $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?> does work, though I am not sure why.

I have seen it used alot and prefer keeping the number of php docs to a minimum. PHP_SELF allows me to complete a basic task in one longer script.

The code I posted above does indeed look correct but it does not work. I thought it may have been a config problem, or a server issue. However, I am now developing on a WinXP pro OS with Apache and Xitami servers, and PHP4.3, the code works on neither servers. Also, I tried it on my new website which is hosted on Linux OS - still doesn't work.

Several other posts have been made concerning this topic but they seem to end up being from a silly mistake (i.e. missing enctype="multi-part/form-data") and the problem is solved.
Is there something really obvious I am missing?

[bretticus]

so when you look at your HTML source for the form, you see the actual URL of your script as the action then?

[davidpj]

actually if you view the html code you would see action="". I'm not positive, but since PHP is server-side it might be told to remember that that particular form is to be submitted to itself. I have never tried posting to a script in the same document by setting action="". I don't think it would work because that would make using <?php $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?> meaningless. Thanks very much for the replies.

Anyone: Try the script I have posted above and see if it works on your site or development machine. Because if it does work on a machine out there it is a config. problem and has nothing to do with the code.

Thanks in advance for your time.

David

[bretticus]

actually if you view the html code you would see action="".

Right, 'cause like I said in my first reply, you need to tell PHP to actually write out the result of $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']. Think about it...your browser doesn't know how to get your POST data to the form handler.

Thus use this...

<form action="<?=$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']">

Trust me, I've obviously been doign this longer than you. 😃

[davidpj]

action=""
action="<?php $SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?>"
action="<?=$SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?>"

I tested each of these and they all post to the same document, and they all work - at least in my test. Beats me. I found some examples in one of my books that used echo

action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] ?>"

either way works on my servers, and obviously many other peoples servers, so each "style" has been thrown around. Your example actually prints the name of the current php file and is thus the correct method. I guess some browsers read action="" as to mean "SELF."

This isn't my problem though, as all of these action= post to self, and none of them solve the $_FILES problem.

Anyone, try running that script on your server and see if it works. The php script runs fine when the submit is pressed (and a file has been selected). The $_FILES array is empty though.