While is $_FILE superglobal not being passed - php

Question

So I am working on a file upload form that seems to lose the information in the file super global from one step to another. So what I do is I print out the file super global before I verify through captcha and then print it out once I validate through the captcha. For some way I lose the information after verifying the captcha. I have tried storing the information in a cookie and a session variable but with no luck. In terms of the cookie direction it saves the file super global information into the cookie only if I hit refresh before captcha validation. In terms of session storage it stores the information in the session variable before I verify the captch but then lose it after I verify the captach. Can you guys people help, and thanks in advance. My code is below:
$DIRECTORY_NAME = "/home/www/xxx/xxxPhotos/";
$FILES = array();
$SPEAKER_STATUS_DROPDOWN = '<option value="">...</option><option value="Suggested">Suggested</option><option value="Invited">Invited</option><option value="Confirmed">Confirmed</option>';
if (empty($_SESSION['captcha']) || strtolower(trim($_REQUEST['captcha'])) != $_SESSION['captcha']) {
$captcha = false;
} else {
$captcha = true;
}
if (!empty($_POST) && $captcha) {
$UNIQ_ID = $_POST['uniq_id'];
$FORM_ID = $_POST['form_id'];
//$uniqid = createuniqid();
// Upload file
if ($_FILES["file"]["name"] != "") {
if ($_FILES["file"]["error"] > 0)
{
echo "Return Code: " . $_FILES["file"]["error"] . "<br />";
die();
}
else
{
$allowedExtensions = array("jpg","gif","tiff","pdf");
if ($file["file"]['tmp_name'] != '') {
if (!in_array(end(explode(".",
strtolower($file["file"]['name']))),
$allowedExtensions)) {
die($file["file"]['name'].' is an invalid file type!<br/>'.
'<a href="javascript:history.go(-1);">'.
'<&lt Go Back</a>');
}
}
$filename = "AS_".$uniqid."". strrchr($_FILES["file"]["name"], '.');
move_uploaded_file($_FILES["file"]["tmp_name"],
$DIRECTORY_NAME . $filename);
$filenamequery = ", attachment='$filename' ";
$filenameemailbody = "<br>Attachment: http://www.verney.ca/viewabstract.php?filename=$filename";
}
die('reached here');
}
HTML Form
<form name="frmAbstract" id ="frmAbstract" method="post" action="storiesv.php" onSubmit="return validation();" enctype="multipart/form-data" style="margin-left:20px;">
<input type="hidden" name="uniq_id" value="">
<input type="hidden" name="form_id" value="6">
<div><label class="labelHeader"><strong><h1>Form</h1></strong></label><br/></div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_390">First Name of Submitter: <span style="color:#FF0000">*</span></label>
<input type="text" id="question_390" name="question_390" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_391">Last Name of Submitter: <span style="color:#FF0000">*</span></label>
<input type="text" id="question_391" name="question_391" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_392">Title: </label>
<input type="text" id="question_392" name="question_392" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_393">Organization: </label>
<input type="text" id="question_393" name="question_393" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_394">Phone: </label>
<input type="text" id="question_394" name="question_394" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_395">Email: <span style="color:#FF0000">*</span></label>
<input type="text" id="question_395" name="question_395" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_396">Involvement with the CBS: </label>
<input type="text" id="question_396" name="question_396" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_397">First became a CBS member in (yyyy): <span style="color:#FF0000">*</span></label>
<input type="text" id="question_397" name="question_397" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_398">Your story/experience/anecdote (limit of 250 words): </label>
<textarea name="question_398" name="question_398" style="width:500px;height:200px;"></textarea>
</div>
<div class="formrow" >
<label>Do you have a photo / graphic to upload (scans of print photos are acceptable)? </label>
<div class="checkboxdiv"><input type="radio" style="width:20px;float:left;border:0px;"id="question_399_0" name="question_399[]" value="Yes"><label for="question_399_0">Yes</label></div><div class="checkboxdiv"><input type="radio" style="width:20px;float:left;border:0px;"id="question_399_1" name="question_399[]" value="No"><label for="question_399_1">No</label></div><strong><em></em></strong><div style="clear:both;"></div></div>
<div>
<label for="question_400">Attachment: (Only jpg, gif, tiff, pdf, will be accepted) </label>
<input type="file" id="question_400" name="question_400" style="width:500px;">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_401">For photos submitted, please include names of people in the photo, location, and date. </label>
<textarea name="question_401" name="question_401" style="width:500px;height:200px;"></textarea>
</div>
<div class="formrow" >
<label>Do we have permission to publish this photo in a slide show to be featured at the 2014 CBS Conference and possibly in a printed collection of memoirs intended for past and present CBS members? </label>
<div class="checkboxdiv"><input type="radio" style="width:20px;float:left;border:0px;"id="question_402_0" name="question_402[]" value="Yes"><label for="question_402_0">Yes</label></div><div class="checkboxdiv"><input type="radio" style="width:20px;float:left;border:0px;"id="question_402_1" name="question_402[]" value="No"><label for="question_402_1">No</label></div><strong><em></em></strong><div style="clear:both;"></div></div><div><label class="labelHeader"><strong>Questions</strong></label><br/></div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_404">Tell us about your experience(s) with the CBS. </label>
<input type="text" id="question_404" name="question_404" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_405">How did you become involved in the CBS? </label>
<input type="text" id="question_405" name="question_405" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_406">What is your best memory of the CBS? </label>
<input type="text" id="question_406" name="question_406" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_407">Who have been your role models in the field? </label>
<input type="text" id="question_407" name="question_407" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_408">What has been the most significant accomplishment of Canadian bioethics? </label>
<input type="text" id="question_408" name="question_408" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
<div class="formrow">
<label for="question_409">What is our biggest challenge going forward? </label>
<input type="text" id="question_409" name="question_409" style="width:500px" maxlength="255" value="">
</div>
</fieldset>
<div style="clear:both;"><br><input type="submit" name="btnSave" id="btnSave" value="Next" class="submitbutton" "></div>
<p> </p>
</form>
So the code above is the original code I have been working with. It essentially does the file upload after the captcha is validated, and this is where I lose $_FILES super global
ANSWER: Thanks for all those who viewed my question. The issue was the captcha was in a form on it own page with a enctype set. Therefore the $_FILES super global was overwritten with that forms $_FILES, which of course is not set.

Answer 1

The name of your file input is question_400, so you would need $_FILES["question_400"]["name"], etc.