ezekiel has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hello all

I have a CGI script where a user indicates the location of an XML file on the file system through a form. On submission, the script should upload the file and store it in a database. At present, it seems to get all the correct information from the form but doesn't get the contents of the file. Here is what I have so far:

The relevant HTML form: 

  <p>
    Upload the file: <input type="file" name="upload_file">
  </p>

[download]

The part of the code to get the file: 

my $filename = $this->cgi()->param('upload_file');
my $xml = _upload_file($filename);

sub _upload_file {
    my $filename = shift;

    my $file_contents = "";
    my $buffer;
    
    while ( read($filename, $buffer, 1024) ) {
        $file_contents .= $buffer;
    }

    return $file_contents;
    
}

[download]

At a guess it is because the $filename does not contain the full path to the file? However, I've seen the same code work in another program as is (I just cut'n'pasted it!). Furthermore, if I do need the full path, how do I get it from the HTML form?

Thanks.

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
•Re: Uploading files: can't find contents?
by merlyn (Sage) on Apr 04, 2003 at 00:53 UTC
    Perhaps you should follow the advice of the manpage: 
           When the form is processed, you can retrieve the entered
       filename by calling param():

              $filename = $query->param('uploaded_file');

       Different browsers will return slightly different things
       for the name.  Some browsers return the filename only.
       Others return the full path to the file, using the path
       conventions of the user's machine.  Regardless, the name
       returned is always the name of the file on the user's
       machine, and is unrelated to the name of the temporary
       file that CGI.pm creates during upload spooling (see
       below).

       The filename returned is also a file handle.  You can read
       the contents of the file using standard Perl file reading
       calls:

               # Read a text file and print it out
               while (<$filename>) {
                  print;
               }

               # Copy a binary file to somewhere safe
               open (OUTFILE,">>/usr/local/web/users/feedback");
               while ($bytesread=read($filename,$buffer,1024)) {
                  print OUTFILE $buffer;
               }

       However, there are problems with the dual nature of the
       upload fields.  If you "use strict", then Perl will com-
       plain when you try to use a string as a filehandle.  You
       can get around this by placing the file reading code in a
       block containing the "no strict" pragma.  More seriously,
       it is possible for the remote user to type garbage into
       the upload field, in which case what you get from param()
       is not a filehandle at all, but a string.

       To be safe, use the upload() function (new in version
       2.47).  When called with the name of an upload field,
       upload() returns a filehandle, or undef if the parameter
       is not a valid filehandle.

            $fh = $query->upload('uploaded_file');
            while (<$fh>) {
                  print;
            }

       In an array context, upload() will return an array of
       filehandles.  This makes it possible to create forms that
       use the same name for multiple upload fields.

       This is the recommended idiom.

    [download]

    -- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker
    Be sure to read my standard disclaimer if this is a reply.

[reply]
[d/l]

      Actually he is explicitly following this advice merlyn (making the presumption that $this->cgi is a CGI object). No doubt he will be missing the ENCTYPE="multipart/form-data" in the FORM TAG or have uploads disabled $CGI::DISABLE_UPLOAD or be exceeding $CGI::POST_MAX.

      One of the less user friendly things about CGI.pm is that if misses the opportunity to report the cause of failing file uploads and leave a useful message in err_str()

      cheers

      tachyon

      s&&rsenoyhcatreve&&&s&n.+t&"$'$`$\"$\&"&ee&&y&srve&&d&&print

[reply]
[reply]
        how could i access $CGI::DISABLE_UPLOAD ? 
        #!/usr/bin/perl -w
use CGI;
print "CGI::DISABLE_UPLOADS: $CGI::DISABLE_UPLOADS\n";

        [download]
        gives:
        Name "CGI::DISABLE_UPLOAD" used only once: possible typo at cgi-bin/te.pl line 3.
        Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) at cgi-bin/te.pl line 3.
        CGI::DISABLE_UPLOAD:
        thx maksl

        Update:
        the other name variable gives CGI::POST_MAX: -1, perhaps my version of CGI can't disable upload?

        Update2:
        added plural to above, thx jasonk .. this results in CGI::DISABLE_UPLOADS: 0

[reply]
[d/l]
Re: Uploading files: can't find contents?
by jasonk (Parson) on Apr 04, 2003 at 00:50 UTC

    You missed part of the relevant html that could be the problem, if your <form> tag doesn't contain ENCTYPE="multipart/form-data", you won't get the uploaded files.

    We're not surrounded, we're in a target-rich environment!
[reply]

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