input=file image upload problem

[specialchild]

i'm having problems with some php i have written. everything works as i expect when all fields are completed, but if a user leaves a field blank then the script fails.
This would be too much of a problem as i can use some validation to get round the majority of this but the field it always fails on is if a file upload field is left blank. I would like users to be able to leave fields blank but if they do my script fails.

Any ideas how to over come what primarily seems to be a input=file type problem...

aplogies if this has been covered before, if it has maybe someone could post a link up. thanks in advance.

[tserbis]

is_uploaded_file

[specialchild]

how would you use this is my case???

[tserbis]

http://php.net/is_uploaded_file

[specialchild]

thanks for the link.
i understand is_uploaded_file is a php function but i don't see how it is relevant to what i am trying to do.
i don't understand why i can't upload empty fields, i have tried setting the fields in the database to be null, not null, but neither work.
can anyone explain to me why it is not possible to post blank fields, be it text or file fields. it is possible in asp & mssql, asp & xml, so am i missing something quite fundamental??

[mattsinclair]

Hi,

Am I understanding this correctly... if a user does not fill in the text box containing the local location to the file he is uploading, it errors when he clicks submit?

When you upload a file via POST, PHP creates a temp. file in the temp dir. You can use the is_file() function to check to see if it's there or not.

Here is a snippet of some code I use to encode an uploaded file as base64 (to store it in SQL).

if (is_file($userfile)) {

$data = base64_encode(fread(fopen(stripslashes($userfile), "r"), $size));

} else {

print "Error: Please enter a valid filename to upload.";

}

[specialchild]

i think you are kind of understanding me.
sorry, i always struggle to make myself clear on forums.
i have a number of form fields that a user can choose to complete, they are all optional fields. the problem i have is that if a user fails to complete any of the fields the php fails. i can get round this problem with javascript on the type=text fields but on the type=file i don't know what to do.

is it possible to submit empty fields with php to a mysql database?
i would have thought so...

any ideas?

[mattsinclair]

Yes.... the code I posted will do what you want...I think.

If the user does not enter a file name, no file will be uploaded, so there will not be a temp file created, and is_file() will return FALSE.

If that doesn't answer it, would you post the code you use, and the error it results in when you try to leave the field blank?

[mattsinclair]

I put up an example...

http://www.mattsinclair.com/pics.php?action=add

Just click UPLOAD here.

[specialchild]

here is the html
if ($action == "submit" && $headline && $body && $dept && $author && $image && $file1 && $file2 && $url){
$headline= preg_replace("/\n/", "<br />", $headline);
$body= preg_replace("/\n/", "", $body);
$dept= preg_replace("/\n/", "<br />", $dept);
$author= preg_replace("/\n/", "<br />", $author);

$image = $HTTP_POST_FILES['image']['tmp_name'];
$image_name = $HTTP_POST_FILES['image']['name'];
$image_size = $HTTP_POST_FILES['image']['size'];

$file1 = $HTTP_POST_FILES['file1']['tmp_name'];
$file1_name = $HTTP_POST_FILES['file1']['name'];
$file1_size = $HTTP_POST_FILES['file1']['size'];

$file2 = $HTTP_POST_FILES['file2']['tmp_name'];
$file2_name = $HTTP_POST_FILES['file2']['name'];
$file2_size = $HTTP_POST_FILES['file2']['size'];

// ADD PATH TO IMAGE DIRECTORY
$newLoc = "myfile path";
if ($image_size!=0)

{

//echo "<br>" . $image_name;		
$newLoc1 = $newLoc . $image_name ;

	if (!copy($image, $newLoc1)) 

		{

			echo "couldn't move file...";

		}

}

if ($file1_size!=0)

{

//echo "<br>" . $image_name;		
$newLoc1 = $newLoc . $file1_name ;

	if (!copy($file1, $newLoc1)) 

		{

			echo "couldn't move file...";

		}

}


if ($file2_size!=0)

{

//echo "<br>" . $image_name;		
$newLoc1 = $newLoc . $file2_name ;

	if (!copy($file2, $newLoc1)) 

		{

			echo "couldn't move file...";

		}

}

//$image= preg_replace("/\\n/", "<br />", $image);
$url= preg_replace("/\\n/", "<br />", $url);
addnews($headline, $body, $dept, $author, $image_name, $file1_name, $file2_name, $url);
$complete="The new article has been successfully added.";

}

[mattsinclair]

if ($image_size!=0 && is_file($image) ) {

this doesn't work??

[specialchild]

where do i have:
if ($image_size!=0 && is_file($image) ) {

or are you suggesting i try this?

[mattsinclair]

Change where you have:

if ($image_size!=0) 

to this:

if ($image_size!=0 && is_file($image) ) 

[specialchild]

still not working unfortunately.

[mattsinclair]

very strange, it works for me.

what's the error?

[specialchild]

if i leave the image and file fields blank the script fails to work (does not enter anything in the db).
If i complete all the fields it works fine.
No idea why it doesn't work, i can't believe this is so difficult.
I have fields set to null (null=yes, default=null) is this correct?

[mattsinclair]

I have fields set to null (null=yes, default=null) is this correct?

not sure what you mean by that.

$image = $HTTP_POST_FILES['image']['tmp_name'];

that might be causing it to set a temp name even if there isn't actually one. you should try printing out $image after it's set. if it returns a file name, try to open it to see what it is. then try to comment out that line. $image should be set automatically by php.

your code looks fine, and if you use is_file() to make sure it's a valid filename it should work. check the file you're uploading to make sure it has something in it..

here's the code I use to upload a picture...
$userfile, $userfile_name, and $userfile_type are set by PHP. "userfile" Is the name of the form's FILE input.

function uploadpic($userfile,$userfile_name,$userfile_type) {
	global $unknown_number,$invalid_image;
	$size = filesize(stripslashes($userfile));
	if (is_file($userfile)) {
		$data = base64_encode(fread(fopen(stripslashes($userfile), "r"), $size)); 
	} else {
		die("Error:  Please enter a valid filename to upload.");
	}
	if (!$size) print $unknown_number;
	$sz=getimagesize($userfile);	$h=$sz[1];		$w=$sz[0];

if ($userfile_type == "image/gif" || $userfile_type == "image/jpg" || $userfile_type == "image/jpeg" || $userfile_type == "image/pjpeg" || $userfile_type == "image/x-png" || $userfile_type == "image/png" || $userfile_type == "image/j") {  
	return savepic($userfile_name,$data,$size,"","", $h, $w);
} else {
	return $invalid_image;
}
}

[specialchild]

ok.

i know my file upload script works if i actually upload a file / complete all the form fields.

it doesn't work when i don't complete all the fields. i can get round the problem of not completing text fields with javascript, but this is not possible with input=file fields.

what i want to be able to do is submit a form and for the php script to run whether i upload a file or not. i want it to be optional for the user to upload a
file, therefore the script has to run if there is a file to upload or not.

is it not possible to have an empty file field or to be able to submit empty form fields in php?