[RESOLVED] Don't know how to check whether someone has selected a file using the <input> element

[Paul_help_]

Hi guys.

Just recently I learnt that, if I used something like the following:

isset($_POST["fieldName"])

..... For most input types, using the isset() function will not tell you whether the user has actually filled in a form field.

Thing thing is, I am in the process of building a little content management system for a client.

And I was just wondering if you could show me some php illustration code for how I would check if the user has selected a file using this html element:

<input type="file" name="photo" value="">

Paul.

[dalecosp]

If I could make a suggestion, for testing and learning, create a form with the HTML input you want to use (above code?), and make its handler do something like:

print_r($_POST);

Then submit the form in the way you want your users to submit it, and examine the output.

You'll probably be able to see something that you'd like to ensure is there in your real/actual handler code.

As an "extra", once you have your PHP validating that you're getting what you want, you should (for the sake of the end-user experience) also add some client-side JavaScript that would prevent a casual user-error (e.g. omission of the file); this typically involves adding an id attribute to your input field code and creating a JS function that is run "onSubmit" and returns false (and an alert in the browser) if the form is submitted with the input field being empty.

[pbismad]

One version of the code you have recently posted is testing if the error element in the $_FILES array is equal to UPLOAD_ERR_NO_FILE. This particular upload error value means that no file was selected.

I recommend that you make use of the php.net documentation - http://php.net/manual/en/features.file-upload.php