file uploads and browser timeout

theresandy

I run a file hosting website and I notice many temp php upload files are left on /tmp, meaning that the upload could not complete because the user's browser timed out, correct?

I've been reading some posts about this, and I see a lot about php time limit and output buffer.

1- PHP time limit has nothing to do with browser time limit, right? There's no point on raising PHP time limit, because it's not the php that takes too long to run, but the upload, right?

2- How can I prevent browser timeout? I heard I could just send some data to the browser once in a while, but how exactly can I do that without having a never-ending loop?

thanks!

_RL_Ian

theresandy wrote:
I run a file hosting website and I notice many temp php upload files are left on /tmp, meaning that the upload could not complete because the user's browser timed out, correct?

I've been reading some posts about this, and I see a lot about php time limit and output buffer.

1- PHP time limit has nothing to do with browser time limit, right? There's no point on raising PHP time limit, because it's not the php that takes too long to run, but the upload, right?

2- How can I prevent browser timeout? I heard I could just send some data to the browser once in a while, but how exactly can I do that without having a never-ending loop?

thanks!

In your php.ini file, take a look at these settings:

post_max_size = 8M
upload_max_filesize = 2M

They have to both be set higher than what you are trying to upload.

theresandy

they're both setup correct, again, my problem is browser timeout for some users.
any ideas?

drew010

have you tried
ini_set('max_execution_time', 0);
just in case.

how big are these files anyway?

theresandy

drew010 wrote:
have you tried
ini_set('max_execution_time', 0);
just in case.

how big are these files anyway?

No, please understand, the problem is browser timeout. File are up to 100mb, taking longs time to upload and making the browser timeout.

Question is: how can I send the browser some data each 10 seconds while the page loads without having a never-ending loop? I'm certain this avoids timeout. For instance, cPanel uses this technique (they send "dots" to the browser)

thanks

drew010

i suppose it is an old limitation of browsers uploading large files and timing out, but there isnt really anything you can do on the php side to fix it.
cpanel sends dots to show its doing something but there are 2 differences to that; 1. it is being run as a cgi script so output is flushed immediately; and 2. they arent handling an upload.
when a file is being uploaded, the http request is still being made by the client, so you arent yet at the point where you can be sending output (which would mean that an http response is being sent before the request is being finished)
ftp is probably the only bulletproof way to get these large files up without any trouble.

theresandy

drew010 wrote:
i suppose it is an old limitation of browsers uploading large files and timing out, but there isnt really anything you can do on the php side to fix it.
cpanel sends dots to show its doing something but there are 2 differences to that; 1. it is being run as a cgi script so output is flushed immediately; and 2. they arent handling an upload.
when a file is being uploaded, the http request is still being made by the client, so you arent yet at the point where you can be sending output (which would mean that an http response is being sent before the request is being finished)
ftp is probably the only bulletproof way to get these large files up without any trouble.

Hm too bad, but those php output buffer functions, can't they do anything in this case?

thanks

_RL_Ian

theresandy wrote:
they're both setup correct, again, my problem is browser timeout for some users.
any ideas?

You aren't going to be able to upload 100MB through a browser like that because the max script execution time will just kill the upload half way. The best thing I can recommend is to embed something like a java/flash FTP program or something that is more active than passive to handle your transfer. Hope that helps.