$_FILES array is empty - php

Question

This is the first time I am trying to upload a file and for some reason my $_FILES array is empty. I have checked again and again my HTML and it looks okay to me. When i try to debug the below code in eclipse the $_Files array is empty when i check it. I have checked the php_ini file it has:
file_uploads = On
upload_max_filesize = 2M
The form is in a fancybox modal window.
My HTML looks like this:
<form action="/CiREM/attachments/addAttachmentsModal.php?requestId=120" enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post" id="addattachment" name="addattachment" class="form-vertical" autocomplete="off">
<input type='hidden' id='requestId' name='requestId' value="120"/>
<input type='hidden' id='listScreen' name='listScreen' value=""?>
<input type='hidden' name='MAX_FILE_SIZE' value='4000000' /><br/> <strong>Max File size Allowed: </strong>4 Mb <br/><strong>File Formats Allowed: </strong>gif,jpeg,jpg,png<br/><hr/> <div class="control-group">
<div class="controls input">
<input class="input-file" type="file" name="upload_file[]" id="upload_file[]"/><br/>
</div>
</div>
<input class="input-file" type="file" name="upload_file[]" id="upload_file[]"/><br/>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class ="clear"></div>
<input id="addAttachmentsBtn" type="submit" class="btn btn-primary btn-large" value="Add Attachments"/>
</form>
My php is
<form action="<?php echo $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']."?requestId=".$requestId?>" enctype="multipart/form-data" method="post" id="addattachment" name="addattachment" class="form-vertical" autocomplete="off">
<input type='hidden' id='requestId' name='requestId' value="<?php echo $requestId;?>"/>
<input type='hidden' id='listScreen' name='listScreen' value="<?php echo $listScreen;?>"?>
<?php
if ($CIREM['MAX_IMG_NUM']>0){
echo "<input type='hidden' name='MAX_FILE_SIZE' value='".$CIREM['MAX_IMG_SIZE']."' />";
echo "<br/> <strong>Max File size Allowed: </strong>".($CIREM['MAX_IMG_SIZE']/1000000)." Mb <br/><strong>File Formats Allowed: </strong>".$CIREM['IMG_TYPES']."<br/><hr/>";?>
<?php for ($i=1;$i<=$CIREM['MAX_IMG_NUM'];$i++){?>
<div class="controls input">
<input class="input-file" type="file" name="upload_file[]" id="upload_file[]"/><br/>
</div>
<?php }?>
<?php }
else{
echo "<p class='alert alert-info'>Attachment uploading is not allowed</p>";
}
?>
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Shakira

Answer 1

Without looking through that spaghetti code, first check whether your $_POST is also empty.
If it is, make sure that post_max_size is larger than upload_max_filesize. The two settings have to be congruent.

Answer 2

First of all sorry for the late reply but since sometimes people stumble upon old topics on stackoverflow, I decided to write the way it works for me.
So, to send files via ajax you have to use FormData.
I'll paste a link to a github project I have to submit forms via ajax so you can check the working example and paste here the snippet.
Link: https://github.com/pihh/auto-ajax-form
Code:
$( "form" ).on('submit',function( event ) {
if($(this).attr('ajax')){
event.preventDefault();
var marianaFormUrl = $(this).attr('action');
var marianaFormId = $(this).attr('id');
var marianaFormMethod = $(this).attr('type');
var marianaFormSucess = $(this).attr('success');
var marianaFormComplete = $(this).attr('complete');
var marianaFormBefore = $(this).attr('before');
var marianaFormInputs = $('#' + marianaFormId +' :input');
var marianaEncType = $(this).attr('enctype');
var marianaFormData = {};
// Set enctype
if(marianaEncType === undefined || marianaEncType == ''){
$(this).attr('enctype','multipart/form-data');
}
// Run Ajax Call
$.ajax({
url: marianaFormUrl,
type: marianaFormMethod,
dataType: 'JSON',
data: new FormData( this ),
processData: false,
contentType: false,
cache: false,
success:function(data){
// Run success
if(marianaFormSucess !== undefined && marianaFormSucess !== ''){
var fn = marianaFormSucess;
var func = fn +'( data )';
eval(func);
}
},
complete:function(data){
// Run complete
if(marianaFormComplete !== undefined && marianaFormComplete !== ''){
var fn = marianaFormComplete;
var func = fn +'( data )';
eval(func);
}
}
});
}
});
This is it, using formData it sends the files just fine.