How do I correctly display a file extension from an HTML POST file using PHP?

Question

I am attempting to echo the extension of an uploaded tax document. The document can be any image or a pdf. I plan on using the extension to rename the file with its proper extension later in the code.

Currently it does not echo the extension.

I have attempted a few different methods and looked at documentation and forums. I seem to still be doing something wrong.

My HTML:

<input type="file" class="" id="TaxFile" name="TaxFile" accept="image/*,application/pdf" ><br /><br />

My PHP:

$taxpath = pathinfo($_FILES["TaxFile"]["tmp_name"]); echo $taxpath['extension'] . "\n123";

echos '123'

My Alternative PHP:

$taxpath = $_FILES["TaxFile"]["tmp_name"]; $ext = pathinfo($taxpath, PATHINFO_EXTENSION); echo $ext;

echos nothing

I expected to see the echo: "pdf 123" and "pdf"

*My later code does in fact save the file to its destination using move_uploaded_file($_FILES["TaxFile"]["tmp_name"], $target_file). It's just that $target_file wont include the proper extension.

The temporary file on the server does not any extension. It's mostly a random string generated by PHP. — Álvaro González, Jul 11 '19 at 17:32
Thank you Álvaro González, that explains why it kept returning as null! — Dfuce, Jul 11 '19 at 19:27

A l w a y s S u n n y · Answer 1 · 2019-07-11T23:44:01.443

2

This should work for you if you use name instead of tmp_name

$path_parts = pathinfo($_FILES["TaxFile"]['name']);
$extension = $path_parts['extension'];
echo $extension;

edited Jul 11 '19 at 23:44

answered Jul 11 '19 at 17:15

A l w a y s S u n n y

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Thank you. It seems I didn't know the difference between "tmp_name" and "name". – Dfuce Jul 11 '19 at 19:26

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 11 '19 at 17:12

1

This will solve

$path = $_FILES['image']['name'];
$ext = pathinfo($path, PATHINFO_EXTENSION);

so in your file concatenate the variables

echo $path.'.'.$ext;

answered Jul 11 '19 at 17:12

Otávio Barreto

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score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 11 '19 at 17:16

1

tmp_name is the temporary name/location of the file on disk.

Try using $_FILES["TaxFile"]["name"] to get the original filename.

Otherwise, your method for grabbing the extension with pathinfo() and PATHINFO_EXTENSION was correct.

answered Jul 11 '19 at 17:16

radsectors

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Thank you, This resolved the issue. Thank you for explaining the difference between "tmp_name" and "name". – Dfuce Jul 11 '19 at 19:25

How do I correctly display a file extension from an HTML POST file using PHP?

3 Answers3