isset and !empty not passing through a check for uploaded files

Question

I have an upload form with a file to be uploaded. The issue I have is that even when no file is uploaded the if(isset($_FILES)) OR if(!empty($_FILES)) still passes as successful:

$_FILES = $HTTP_POST_FILES;
if($_POST['type'] == 'photo' && isset($_FILES)){
// returns true even if no file is uploaded. What am I missing!
}

Rox

Using $HTTP_POST_FILES is deprecated: php.net/manual/en/reserved.variables.files.php (besides that it contains the same values as $_FILES) – Eye

Answer 1

Being a superglobal, $_FILES is presumably always set, regardless whether an uploaded file exists or not.

Check for the file upload(s) you would expect and look at the size field. (Apparently according to the User Contributed Notes in the manual, if the form contains the upload element, it is possible that even isset($_FILES["my_file_name"]) will return true even though there was no file selected.

This should work reliably:

if($_POST['type'] == 'photo' && 
   ((isset($_FILES["my_file_name"]["size"]) && 
    ($_FILES["my_file_name"]["size"] > 0)) ){

(the isset() is to prevent a "undefined index" notice.)

What do you do this for, by the way?:

$_FILES = $HTTP_POST_FILES;

Papule

I did have this before but it was a bit longwided: $_FILES['image']['tmp_name']... You know I have no idea about that second line. $_FILES = $HTTP_POST_FILES; That was one of about three parts that was written by someone else. – Rox

@Rox I think you can safely remove that part, it was probably for backwards compatibility in PHP 4. – Papule

@Rox checking for tmp_name is also fine. – Papule

@Papule cheers for all that, its good to have that cleared up. – Rox

@Rox habit. I like having every single condition separated in a pair of brackets to avoid misunderstandings like $x > 3 && $y < 3 + 1 but it's not necessary here, true. – Papule