Validating multiple file uploads with Laravel 4

Question

How do I go about validating an array of uploaded files in Laravel 4? I've set it in the form to allow multiple files, and I've tested that the files exist in the Input::file('files') array. But how do I validate each file?

Here's what I've tried:

$notesData = array(
            'date' => Input::get('date'),
            'files' => Input::file('files')
    );


    // Declare the rules for the form validation.
    $rules = array(
            'date'  => 'Required|date_format:Y-m-d',
            'files'  => 'mimes:jpeg,bmp,png,pdf,doc'
    );

    // Validate the inputs.
    $validator = Validator::make($notesData, $rules);

    // Check if the form validates with success.
    if ($validator->passes())
    {
        // Redirect to homepage
        return Redirect::to('')->with('success', 'Validation passed!');
    }

    // Something went wrong.
    return Redirect::to(URL::previous())->withErrors($validator)->withInput(Input::all());

I expected Validator to complain about passing an array of files inside the data array, but it just passed validation even though the file I sent it was an mp3. When I tried to upload multiple files, it gave an unrelated error that the date field is required (though the date field was autopopulated).

I'm pretty new to Laravel. What could I do to get this working?

UPDATE: I figured out part of the problem was my upload_max_filesize and post_max_size, which I fixed. I've also tried dynamically adding the files to the arrays as so:

$notesData = array(
            'date' => Input::get('date')
    );
    $i=0;
    foreach(\Input::file('files') as $file){
        $notesData['file'.++$i] = $file;
    }

    // Declare the rules for the form validation.
    $rules = array(
            'date'  => 'Required|date_format:Y-m-d'
    );
    for($j=1; $j<=$i; $j++){
        $rules['file'.$j] ='mimes:jpeg,bmp,png,doc'; 
    }

But now I'm getting the following error:

Serialization of 'Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\File\UploadedFile' is not allowed

And I'm lost. Any idea how to fix this?

Nick · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-25 09:02:35Z

11

I think, this is basically your initial solution. For anybody who's still confused, here's some code that worked for me…

// Handle upload(s) with input name "files[]" (array) or "files" (single file upload)

if (Input::hasFile('files')) {
    $all_uploads = Input::file('files');

    // Make sure it really is an array
    if (!is_array($all_uploads)) {
        $all_uploads = array($all_uploads);
    }

    $error_messages = array();

    // Loop through all uploaded files
    foreach ($all_uploads as $upload) {
        // Ignore array member if it's not an UploadedFile object, just to be extra safe
        if (!is_a($upload, 'Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\File\UploadedFile')) {
            continue;
        }

        $validator = Validator::make(
            array('file' => $upload),
            array('file' => 'required|mimes:jpeg,png|image|max:1000')
        );

        if ($validator->passes()) {
            // Do something
        } else {
            // Collect error messages
            $error_messages[] = 'File "' . $upload->getClientOriginalName() . '":' . $validator->messages()->first('file');
        }
    }

    // Redirect, return JSON, whatever...
    return $error_messages;
} else {
    // No files have been uploaded
}

edited Apr 25, 2014 at 9:02

answered Nov 21, 2013 at 10:17

Nick

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1 Comment

PJunior Over a year ago

This worked for me. Don't u guys forget to open the FORM with enctype="multipart/form-data" like {{ Form::open(['files'=>true]) }}

Chris · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-18 10:34:45Z

3

Well, I'm not exactly sure what was causing the error, but after playing around a bit with the validator, I figured out that I couldn't just pass all the files at once. Instead, I made a new array that associated each file with keys 'file0', 'file1', etc. Then I passed these to the validator and set rules for each one (using a foreach loop). Then the validator worked as expected. Still, it wasn't flexible enough for my needs and I ended up using a non-laravel solution.

answered Sep 18, 2013 at 10:34

Chris

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1 Comment

Chris Over a year ago

I think I might've figured out what was causing the Serialization error.. If validation fails, I always redirect to the previous page with the input, but apparently the file input can't be serialized, so instead of using "withInput(Input::all())" I have to use "withInput(Input::except('files')"

Robert ten Wolde · Accepted Answer · 2013-08-06 16:12:56Z

1

It might not be the direct answer for your question, but you can do a simple validation check on types like this:

$file = Input::file('files');

switch($file->getClientMimeType()){
      case 'application/pdf':
           // upload stuff
      break;
}

answered Aug 6, 2013 at 16:12

Robert ten Wolde

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1 Comment

Chris Over a year ago

Thanks, but not quite what what I was looking for. I ended up writing my own solution instead of using Validator though

Stephen Ainsworth · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-17 15:34:09Z

0

foreach(Request::file('photos') as $key => $value) {
    $rules['photos.'.$key]="mimes:jpeg,jpg,png,gif|required|max:10000";
    $friendly_names['photos.'.$key]="photos";
}

This worked for me in Laravel 5.2

answered May 17, 2016 at 15:34

Stephen Ainsworth

1

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