cffile action = "upload"

Description

Copies a file to a directory on the server.

Syntax

<cffile 
   action = "upload"
   fileField = "formfield"
   destination = "full_path_name"
   nameConflict = "behavior"
   accept = "mime_type/file_type"
   mode = "permission"
   attributes = "file_attribute_or_list">
   result = "result_name"

History

See the History section of the main cffile tag page.

Attributes

Attribute	Req/Opt	Default	Description
action	Required		Type of file manipulation that the tag performs.
fileField	Required		Name of form field used to select the file. Do not use number signs (#) to specify the field name.
destination	Required		Pathname of directory in which to upload the file. If not an absolute path (starting a with a drive letter and a colon, or a forward or backward slash), it is relative to the ColdFusion temporary directory, which is returned by the GetTempDirectory function.
nameConflict	Optional	Error	Action to take if filename is the same as that of a file in the directory. Error: file is not saved. ColdFusion stops processing the page and returns an error. Skip: file is not saved. This option permits custom behavior based on file properties. Overwrite: replaces file. MakeUnique: forms a unique filename for the upload; name is stored in the file object variable `serverFile`.
accept	Optional		Limits the MIME types to accept. Comma-delimited list. For example, to permit JPEG and Microsoft Word file uploads: `accept` `=` `"image/jpg, application/msword"` The browser uses file extension to determine file type.
mode	Optional		Applies only to UNIX and Linux. Permissions. Octal values of chmod command. Assigned to owner, group, and other, respectively. For example: 644: assigns read/write permission to owner; read permission to group and other. 777: assigns read/write/execute permission to all.
attributes	Optional		Applies to Windows. A comma-delimited list of attributes to set on the file. If omitted, the file's attributes are maintained. Each value must be specified explicitly. For example, if you specify `attributes` `=` `"readOnly"`, all other attributes are overwritten. readOnly hidden normal (if you use this option with other attributes, it is overridden by them)
result	Optional		Allows you to specify a name for the variable in which `cffile` returns the result (or status) parameters. If you do not specify a value for this attribute, `cffile` uses the prefix 'cffile'. For more information, see the Usage section.

Usage

After a file upload is completed, you can get status information using file upload parameters. To refer to parameters, use either the cffile prefix or, if you specified an alternate name in the result attribute, the name you specified there. For example, if you did not specify a name in the result attribute, access the fileExisted parameter as #cffile.fileExisted#. If you set the result attribute to myResult, however, access fileExisted as #myResult.fileExisted#.

Status parameters can be used anywhere that other ColdFusion parameters can be used.

Tip: The result attribute allows functions or CFCs that get called from multiple pages at the same time to avoid overwriting the results of one call with another.

Note: The file prefix is deprecated, in favor of the cffile prefix. Do not use the file prefix in new applications.

Tip: If your page is uploading a file that was selected on a form or was otherwise sent to your page via a multipart/form-data HTTP message, you can determine the approximate size of the file by checking the value of the CGI.content_length variable. This variable includes the file length plus the length of any other request content.

The following file upload status parameters are available after an upload:

Parameter	Description
attemptedServerFile	Initial name ColdFusion used when attempting to save a file
clientDirectory	Directory location of the file uploaded from the client's system
clientFile	Name of the file uploaded from the client's system
clientFileExt	Extension of the uploaded file on the client system (without a period)
clientFileName	Name of the uploaded file on the client system (without an extension)
contentSubType	MIME content subtype of the saved file
contentType	MIME content type of the saved file
dateLastAccessed	Date and time the uploaded file was last accessed
fileExisted	Whether the file already existed with the same path (yes or no)
fileSize	Size of the uploaded file
fileWasAppended	Whether ColdFusion appended uploaded file to a file (yes or no)
fileWasOverwritten	Whether ColdFusion overwrote a file (yes or no)
fileWasRenamed	Whether uploaded file renamed to avoid a name conflict (yes or no)
fileWasSaved	Whether ColdFusion saves a file (yes or no)
oldFileSize	Size of a file that was overwritten in the file upload operation
serverDirectory	Directory of the file saved on the server
serverFile	Filename of the file saved on the server
serverFileExt	Extension of the uploaded file on the server (without a period)
serverFileName	Name of the uploaded file on the server (without an extension)
timeCreated	Time the uploaded file was created
timeLastModified	Date and time of the last modification to the uploaded file

Note: File status parameters are read-only. They are set to the results of the most recent cffile operation. If two cffile tags execute, the results of the second overwrite the first, unless you have specified a different result variable in the result attribute.

Example

The following example creates a unique filename, if there is a name conflict when the file is uploaded on Windows:

<!--- Windows Example --->
<!--- Check to see if the Form variable exists. --->
<cfif isDefined("Form.FileContents") >
   <!--- If TRUE, upload the file. --->
   <cffile action = "upload" 
      fileField = "FileContents" 
      destination = "c:\files\upload\" 
      accept = "text/html" 
      nameConflict = "MakeUnique">
<cfelse>
   <!--- If FALSE, show the Form. --->
   <form method="post" action=<cfoutput>#cgi.script_name#</cfoutput> 
      name="uploadForm" enctype="multipart/form-data">
      <input name="FileContents" type="file">
      <br>
      <input name="submit" type="submit" value="Upload File"> 
   </form>
</cfif>

View comments in LiveDocs