Why is the FORM scope showing fewer values than were actually submitted by this AJAX file uploader?

Question

I'm not sure I understand how to phrase my question, but I believe it's specific to ColdFusion's handling of certain AJAX form data, despite my reference to a specific JavaScript plugin.

I'm trying to implement the FilePond uploader on a ColdFusion 2011 server, and I've got it configured well on the frontend (it uploads the files to tmp folder just fine), but my problem is not knowing how to get ColdFusion to process the extra metadata it sends along with it on every upload. This data doesn't look to me like it comes in the same format as plain old hidden input fields.

When I inspect the network request with Dev Tools, it looks different to me than other forms I've processed. There are two "filepond" entries, one a JSON object and the other the binary image. When I < cfdump var="#form.FilePond#">, I only get the tmp uploaded file path, which I can process. But how do I access the JSON in my screenshot containing the "parentid"? Nothing I've tried, like form.FilePond[1], seems to work and throws errors.

Update with output from CF form processing page:

1st line is output of Form.FilePond.

2nd is cfdump of Form.

3rd is cfdump URL.

4th is cfdump of getHttpRequestData()

Answer 1

Update:

Bugs filed for CF2016 (core support ending for CF11 after April 2019)

• CF-4204103 - FORM scope is missing values when same named fields include type=file
• CF-4204102 - sameFormFieldAsArray setting doesn't work with enctype="multipart/form-data"

---

After some testing, I've concluded it's a ColdFusion bug.

Issue:

The issue seems to occur under these conditions

• Request is a multipart/form-data POST
• Contains multiple fields with the same name
• At least 1 of those fields is a file field i.e. type="file"
• The first field submitted (within the group) is NOT a file field

Under those conditions, ColdFusion seems to ignore everything before the first file field. (If you check the filepond source ut confirms the metadata field is submitted before any file fields). That's why the metadata value doesn't appear when dumping the FORM scope.

Note, the this.sameFormFieldsAsArray setting has no effect because it doesn't work with multipart/form-data requests.

Test Case

Below is a test case. Notice the results are what you'd expect when the same named field occurs after the first file field?

<cfdump var="#form#" label="Form scope">

<form method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data">
    <br>First:
    <input type="file" name="fileFirst"><br>
    <input type="text" name="fileFirst" value="Lions"><br>

    <br>Last:
    <input type="text" name="fileLast" value="Tigers"><br>
    <input type="file" name="fileLast"><br>

    <br>Middle:
    <input type="text" name="fileMiddle" value="Bears"><br>
    <input type="file" name="fileMiddle"><br>
    <input type="text" name="fileMiddle" value="Oh My"><br>

    <input type="submit">
</form>

Workaround

This blog provides a workaround using an undocumented feature of the FORM scope. Using form.getPartsArray() provides access to both "filePond" fields allowing you to extract the value of the dropped field. Not ideal, but does work until the issue is fixed.

Keep in mind this is an undocumented feature, so be sure to isolate the code for easier alterations in case Adobe alters or removes that function in the future (which they've done before, so fair warning!).

<cfscript>
    // dump raw form fields 
    for (part in form.getPartsArray()) {
        writeDump({ fieldName = part.getName()
                    , isFile  = part.isFile()
                    , fieldValue = (part.isFile() ? part.getFileName() : part.getStringValue())
                }
        );
    }
</cfscript>