replicating $_FILES

tim1976

Greetings,

I hope this is the right place to post this. If not, please let me know where this would be more appropriate.

I am working with wordPress. I have a template with a form that invokes <input type="file" \> and then submits to a PHP script to make sure the users uploaded a valid file.

I'd like to use a file on the server instead, so I have been trying to mutate the $_FILES array information to point to a file on the server instead of one that the user uploads.

I'm not sure if I should be mutating this array inside the form before the user clicks the [done] button or if I should do this in the PHP script that handles the form. I wish HTML had a type="local-file" though. Any help would be appreciated and I would even pay for a successful resolution as this is for a respectable employer's web page.

Regard,
Tim

johanafm

It seems strange to force a user to upload a file when you're actually not going to use it. Why not use a select element with files on the server that they can choose from instead of the file input?

tim1976

Sorry maybe I wasn't clear enough. The template was written to allow users to upload files, yes. However, I do not wish to use that as the image. The rest of the template has been written to use files which are uploaded in this fashion though. Ultimately, I want to remove the <input > where they select a file, and use one that they have created on a previous step instead.

Rather than rewriting a whole bunch of other files, I thought it would be easier to just mutate the $_FILES manually so that I don't have to change things everywhere else. I'm not sure if this is the best way to go about it though, which is why I thought to inquire here.

johanafm

I'd say it definitely is the wrong way to do this. Also, it would be more complicated and make no sense at all.

Change input to select (or display images that the user can click on to select which one to use.)
Remove the whole server side part dealing with the uploaded file.
Where it used to save information about how to retrieve the newly uploaded file, do the exact same thing but for the newly selected file which already resides on the server.
you're done.

tim1976

I guess no one reads. I'm not looking for an alternate method. I'm fully capable of doing alternate methods without people telling me what a <SELECT> is and besides, that is HTML not PHP, which is outside of the scope of this conversation (or so I thought anyways).

What I'm saying is that there are other parts of this over-all project that use a file upload and I don't want to switch one part to <SELECT> just because you don't know how to do what I'm asking. I already know it's possible to mutate the $_FILES array to produce the results I'm seeking, not skirt around to the side and shy away from it because you can't answer my question. Computers do what we want them to do, not the other way around (otherwise you're just another EULA accepting human, slowly losing your rights).

I thank you all for your time in this matter. Enjoy.