[RESOLVED] $_POST and input type="file"

joshmpratt

I have got a form with many options on it and 3 file upload slots. I need to save the data in each field in case there is an error somewhere in the form.

I have noticed just now though that the $POST variable for the type="file" input fields are blank. I can get just the filename through $FILE['file1']['name'], but I need the whole directory structure so that it knows where on the clients computer where to grab the file.

Any suggestions?

cahva

No, the server doesn't know the exact location of the file when its uploaded. Even if that file input's value is the full directory structure when you have chosen some file, the only thing that will be sent to server is the file itself.

cahva

Oh.. I thought about this a little bit more. There is a way to get the directory also but it requires a little bit of javascript.

create a hidden field(s) where to store the whole path
then add to forms onsubmit eg:
onsubmit="document.formname.hiddenfieldname.value=document.getElementById('userfile').value;"

That will populate the hidden field with the value of the input tag.

Sorry for the misinformation in my last post.

Weedpacket

joshmpratt wrote:
knows where on the clients computer where to grab the file.

This is going to be the hard bit. The web browser is not going to let you just "grab" any file on the client machine that you want. So knowing the filepath on the client machine isn't really going to help you any. Closest would be using it to tell the user (in case they've forgotten) which files they selected so that they can select them again.