Uploading Files and Navigating Directories in PHP

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In this article we are going to look at how to upload files and also how to navigate through directories. It is the second part of a tutorial that began last week with "Reading, Writing, and Creating Files in PHP."

Code

For file uploading to work, it must be turned on in your php ini file. And the upload _tmp_dir must be set; in other words the upload directory must exist.

Below is an extract from a php ini file:

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

; File Uploads ;

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

; Whether to allow HTTP file uploads.

file_uploads = On

; Temporary directory for HTTP uploaded files (will use system
default if not

; specified).

upload_tmp_dir = C:PHPuploadtemp  ; temporary directory for
HTTP uploaded files (will use system default if not specified)

; Maximum allowed size for uploaded files.

upload_max_filesize = 2M

*****End php.ini file*****

Here you can see that all the necessary settings are made.

Once you've made all the necessary changes to your php settings, let's create the form needed to do the uploads. To enable a form to handle uploads, you need to change three things on a standard form.

• First, the initial form line must include enctype="multipart/form-data." This tells the browser to expect different types of data.
  
• Second, a hidden input type should be included to tell the browser the max file size allowed for uploading. This is not strictly necessary, as users may upload files of varying sizes.
  
• Third, the "<input name="userfile" type="file">" is included to create the upload field and also creates the browse button. Below is an example of a upload form.

Fig1. Upload form example

PHP fills a $_FILES[''] array with information about the file that you upload. The array contains the following info:

Name - name of the file as it was on the local disk.

Type - mime type of the file (example image/gif).

Size - file size.

Tmp_name- name of the file as it is stored in the final destination.

Error - error code for when something goes wrong.

Code	Meaning
0	No Error
1	File exceeds set upload_max_filesize
2	File exceeds the max_file_size setting in form
3	File was partially uploaded
4	No file was uploaded

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Comments On: Uploading Files and Navigating Directories in PHP

· Nice article. One thing I would like to add is that it's very hard to see the upload...    · Will look into it. I think PHP comes with certain add ons that have that kind of...   >>> Post your comment now!