PHP Upload Timeouts: More Efficient Upload Script?

Question

I have written a pretty basic upload script that takes the file and uploads it using the standard move_uploaded_file method as you see below:

//UPLOAD IMAGE
        $path = "../../clients/$realClient/" . $_FILES["image"]["name"][$x];
        move_uploaded_file($_FILES["image"]["tmp_name"][$x], $path);
        $displayPath = "private/clients/$realClient/" . $_FILES["image"]["name"][$x];       
        mysql_query("INSERT INTO images VALUES(NULL, '$displayPath', '$client', '$project', '$newWeight')") or die("Unable to Insert Image - Please Try Again");
        echo "File Successfully Uploaded<br />";

This upload script works perfectly for most purposes. Here's my issue:

I have a standard shared hosting package so sometimes when the user tries to upload a file that takes over five minutes to upload (say a video or some other high res media), the server times out. The hosting company has said that as it's a shared hosting server they are unwilling to increase the timeout limit for me.

Is there a more efficient upload script that will allow files to go up in under five minutes or is there perhaps an alternative you could suggest?

Cheers, Dan

Ha, cheers, but unfortunately it's my work's responsibility not my own and they wont switch — Dan Hanly
– Dan Hanly, Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 9:56
That may put you between a rock and a hard place, as you may not have a way to fix this. — Piskvor left the building
– Piskvor left the building, Commented Sep 15, 2010 at 10:15

Piskvor left the building · Accepted Answer · 2010-09-15 10:07:08Z

2

The PHP script is run after the upload completes; so if there's a timeout during the upload, there's nothing you can do in the script (as it won't be run at all).

If the timeout occurs during the script, you could split it into multiple parts - have the first script just store the uploaded file and HTTP redirect to another, which will do the processing and database work. In the script you're showing, the processing seems simple enough, not sure if splitting that would help.

Assuming you're showing just a simplified version:

script1.php

    // upload is complete
    $fname= basename($_FILES["image"]["name"][$x]); //prevent directory traversal
    $uniqid = uniqid("",true);
    $path = "../../clients/$realClient/temporary/" . $uniqid . '/' . $fname;
    // move to temporary location and redirect
    move_uploaded_file($_FILES["image"]["tmp_name"][$x], $path);
    header('Location: /script2.php?file=' . $uniqid . '/' . $fname);

script2.php

    $path = $_GET['file'];
    $uniqid = basename(dirname($path));
    $fname = basename($path);
    $temp_path = "../../clients/$realClient/temporary/" . $uniqid . '/' . $fname;
    $final_path = "../../clients/$realClient/" . $fname;
    move($temp_path,$final_path);

    // do whatever processing is necessary
    mysql_query("INSERT INTO images VALUES(NULL, '$displayPath', '$client', '$project', '$newWeight')") or die("Unable to Insert Image - Please Try Again");
    echo "File Successfully Uploaded<br />";

edited Sep 15, 2010 at 10:07

answered Sep 15, 2010 at 9:35

Piskvor left the building

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3 Comments

Dan Hanly Over a year ago

How would I go about doing that?

Piskvor left the building Over a year ago

@Daniel Hanly: added that into the answer.

Dan Hanly Over a year ago

Thank you for your solution. I'll accept your answer but I also understand that this may not shave that much off the time because of: like you said the PHP is run after the file upload.

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