$_FILES for file uploads in PHP - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Handling File Uploads with $_FILES in PHP

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple web page where users can upload a profile picture. You want to learn how PHP handles uploaded files using the $_FILES superglobal.

🎯 Goal: Create a PHP script that accepts a file upload from an HTML form, accesses the uploaded file information using $_FILES, and displays the original file name and file size.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an HTML form with a file input named profile_pic and method POST with enctype="multipart/form-data".

Create a PHP script that accesses the uploaded file data using $_FILES['profile_pic'].

Extract the original file name and file size from $_FILES['profile_pic'].

Display the file name and size in bytes on the page.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

File uploads are common on websites for profile pictures, documents, or other media. Understanding <code>$_FILES</code> helps you handle these uploads safely and effectively.

💼 Career

Many web developer jobs require handling file uploads securely. Knowing how to use <code>$_FILES</code> is essential for backend PHP development.

1

Create the HTML form for file upload

Write the HTML code to create a form with method="POST" and enctype="multipart/form-data". Inside the form, add a file input with the name profile_pic and a submit button labeled Upload.

PHP

Need a hint?

Remember to set enctype="multipart/form-data" on the form to allow file uploads.

2

Check if a file was uploaded

In PHP, create an if statement that checks if $_FILES['profile_pic']['error'] is equal to UPLOAD_ERR_OK to confirm a file was uploaded without errors.

PHP

    
    Upload

Need a hint?

Use isset($_FILES['profile_pic']) to check if the file input exists and compare the error code to UPLOAD_ERR_OK.

3

Extract the uploaded file's name and size

Inside the if block, create two variables: $fileName to store $_FILES['profile_pic']['name'] and $fileSize to store $_FILES['profile_pic']['size'].

PHP

    
    Upload

Need a hint?

Use the name and size keys inside $_FILES['profile_pic'] to get the original file name and size in bytes.

4

Display the uploaded file's name and size

Add echo statements inside the if block to print the file name and file size in bytes in this format: File name: [file name] and File size: [file size] bytes.

PHP

    
    Upload

Need a hint?

Use echo to print the file name and size with a line break between them.