Codeigniter empty $_POST & $_FILES - php

Question

I'm using Plupload to manage file uploads for my site. When I configure Plupload to post to the following test file, the records are shown correctly, however when I post to a CI controller, both $_POST and $_FILES are empty.
test.php
<?php print_r($_FILES); print_r($_POST); ?>
CI does correctly display the $_FILES and $_POST arrays when using a standard HTML form, so any ideas what's causing this?
EDIT
here is the plupload config
var uploader = new plupload.Uploader({
runtimes : 'html5,html4,flash,silverlight,browserplus',
browse_button : 'pickfiles',
container : 'container',
max_file_size : '15mb',
url : '/test.php',
//url : '/upload/do_upload/',
flash_swf_url : '/js/plupload/plupload.flash.swf',
silverlight_xap_url : '/js/plupload/plupload.silverlight.xap',
filters : [
{title : "Documents", extensions : "pdf,doc,docx,rtf,txt"}
],
multipart_params : { job : -2 }
});
and here is the controller
class Upload extends CI_Controller {
function __construct()
{
parent::__construct();
}
function index()
{
$this->load->view('upload_form', array('error' => ' ' ));
}
function do_upload()
{
print_r($_POST);
print_r($_FILES);
$config['upload_path'] = 'incoming/';
$config['allowed_types'] = 'pdf|doc|docx|rtf|txt';
$config['max_size'] = '900';
$this->load->library('upload');
$this->upload->initialize($config); // MUST CALL ELSE config not loaded
if ( ! $this->upload->do_upload()) {
$error = array('error' => $this->upload->display_errors());
$this->load->view('upload_form', $error);
}
else {
$data = array('upload_data' => $this->upload->data());
$this->load->model('translation_model');
$this->translation_model->add_orig($job, $filePath);
$this->load->view('upload_success', $data);
}
}
}

Answer 1

Most probable cause for this is bad mod rewrite rules. If you are using any, try disabling them and post your data again.

Answer 2

I'm using the input class in conjunction with regular $_POST variables and it has always worked for me. The theory that CI cleans out post variables doesn't add up when he can dump them in regular forms.
Turn off csrf protection and please let us know the results. Use firebug console to read the answer from the server.
For a workaround regarding csrf I use https://github.com/EllisLab/CodeIgniter/pull/236
CodeIgniter also has issues with file types.
http://codeigniter.com/forums/viewthread/113029
I have the working libraries for both, if you want them just drop me a message.

Answer 3

First of all, you should check that you have a form tag for enctype.
add enctype="multipart/form-data" to form as it supports uploading.
It will work, can you try and put both the print_r function after else tag before $data,
It will run once the if () condition satisfies. So add it in the else tag and run it.
function do_upload()
{
$config['upload_path'] = 'incoming/';
$config['allowed_types'] = 'pdf|doc|docx|rtf|txt';
$config['max_size'] = '900';
$this->load->library('upload');
$this->upload->initialize($config); // MUST CALL ELSE config not loaded
if ( ! $this->upload->do_upload()) {
$error = array('error' => $this->upload->display_errors());
$this->load->view('upload_form', $error);
}
else {
print_r($_POST);
print_r($_FILES);
$data = array('upload_data' => $this->upload->data());
$this->load->model('translation_model');
$this->translation_model->add_orig($job, $filePath);
$this->load->view('upload_success', $data);
}
}

Answer 4

It could be that something in plupload is intercepting $_POST and $_FILES.
In codeigniter it's usually better to use the input class to deal with post variables and the file uploading class to deal with file uploads.
I guess that something has emptied the $_POST and $_FILES array for safety, it could be that on including the input and file uploading classes codeigniter itself wipes the $_POST and $_FILES arrays so that you're forced to use their classes. It's always a good idea as codeigniter removes XSS attacks and cleans up variables.