Multiple upload

[François Granger]

On a user workstation there is a file linked to many other files. The user
upload this file to my server. I can build a list of these files. But I
don't know the path to these files on the workstation. PHP does not give
this information. I am looking for a simple solution from the user point of
view for him to send me all these files.

Because I don't know the path to the file, I can ask the user to type the
path in a dialog box.

I don't have, from the server, a possibility to upload the files on the
workstation. And I don't know how the pre-fill the <input type="file" />
field of a form.

Am I wrong ?

Is there a simple solution that I missed ?

[Alvaro G Vicario]

*** François Granger wrote/escribió (Mon, 19 Apr 2004 15:26:41 +0200):

I don't know how the pre-fill the <input type="file" />
field of a form.

You can't. It's an elementary security measure. Otherwise, any web site
could get a copy of any file in your computer.

--
--
-- Álvaro G. Vicario - Burgos, Spain
--

[François Granger]

Le 19/04/04 16:37, dans 1e*****************************@40tude.net, «*Alvaro
G Vicario*» <al******************@telecomputeronline.com> a écrit*:

*** François Granger wrote/escribió (Mon, 19 Apr 2004 15:26:41 +0200):

I don't know how the pre-fill the <input type="file" />
field of a form.

You can't. It's an elementary security measure. Otherwise, any web site
could get a copy of any file in your computer.

I was pretty sure that it was not possible, but I needed a confirmation.

And it is not possible to upload a full directory in one click ?

Muchas gracias.

[Alvaro G Vicario]

*** François Granger wrote/escribió (Mon, 19 Apr 2004 18:24:45 +0200):

And it is not possible to upload a full directory in one click ?

Nope, all we have is that ugly file input box. Have you considered using a
Java applet? Java can do things like that and maybe someone already wrote
an applet to upload directories.
--
--
-- Álvaro G. Vicario - Burgos, Spain
--

[John Dunlop]

Alvaro G Vicario wrote:

*** François Granger wrote/escribió (Mon, 19 Apr 2004 15:26:41 +0200):

I don't know how the pre-fill the <input type="file" />
field of a form.
You can't.

Well, you *can*: "User agents may use the value of the value attribute
as the initial file name" (HTML4.01, sec. 17.4.1). Whether what
happens next works is another matter, and indeed YMMV.
It's an elementary security measure.
Yes, that's pretty much the browser developers' excuse for not
implementing it. But, no, there's nothing inherently insecure about
suggesting default file names. Some browsers implement it, some
don't. It comes as no surprise that Internet Explorer doesn't.
Otherwise, any web site could get a copy of any file in your computer.

RFC1867, sec. 8, says:

| It is important that a user agent not send any file that the user
| has not explicitly asked to be sent. Thus, HTML interpreting agents
| are expected to confirm any default file names that might be
| suggested with <INPUT TYPE=file VALUE="yyyy">.

RFC1867, "Form-based File Upload in HTML",
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1867.txt

--
Jock

[Alvaro G Vicario]

*** John Dunlop wrote/escribió (Mon, 19 Apr 2004 20:15:45 +0100):

Thus, HTML interpreting agents are expected to confirm any
default file names that might be suggested with <INPUT TYPE=file VALUE="yyyy">.

Well, that sound's okay. I guess that feature would be useful for
intranets.

--
--
-- Álvaro G. Vicario - Burgos, Spain
--

[François Granger]

Le 20/04/04 9:24, dans l0*****************************@40tude.net, «*Alvaro
G Vicario*» <al******************@telecomputeronline.com> a écrit*:

*** John Dunlop wrote/escribió (Mon, 19 Apr 2004 20:15:45 +0100):

Thus, HTML interpreting agents are expected to confirm any
default file names that might be suggested with <INPUT TYPE=file
VALUE="yyyy">.

Well, that sound's okay. I guess that feature would be useful for
intranets.

Thanks a lot for your help. I tested this and none of my browser keep the
content of value="".

All this look logical.

[David Mackenzie]

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 18:24:45 +0200, François Granger
<fg******@alussinan.org> wrote:

Le 19/04/04 16:37, dans 1e*****************************@40tude.net, «*Alvaro
G Vicario*» <al******************@telecomputeronline.com> a écrit*:

*** François Granger wrote/escribió (Mon, 19 Apr 2004 15:26:41 +0200):

I don't know how the pre-fill the <input type="file" />
field of a form.

You can't. It's an elementary security measure. Otherwise, any web site
could get a copy of any file in your computer.

I was pretty sure that it was not possible, but I needed a confirmation.

And it is not possible to upload a full directory in one click ?

An <input type='file'> should allow selection of multiple files,
although IIRC Opera is the only browser that supports it.

Could you have your user zip their files and unzip them server-side?

--
David ( @priz.co.uk )

[François Granger]

Le 20/04/04 13:12, dans 8o********************************@4ax.com, «*David
Mackenzie*» <[e-mail]> a écrit*:

An <input type='file'> should allow selection of multiple files,
although IIRC Opera is the only browser that supports it.
In php there is a multiple upload a option, but one has to select each
file... :-(
Could you have your user zip their files and unzip them server-side?

I am targeting really low level multiplatform users ;-)

But with no other solution, I may end up implementing this.

Thanks to all.