Hello everyone...

In this tutorial we will learn how to build an advanced, powerful and easy File manipulation script, this File manipulation script allow your site visitors to upload, download files, and share this files with their friend(s).

File manipulation is used on the web to allow site visitors to download an offline version of the information presented, for effective document management or just to offer some files to others. Dynamic sites cover file manipulation quite nicely, allowing file uploading and changing on the fly, as well as a better control over downloaded / uploaded files.

Downloading files is the easy part, you just need to add a link to your page pointing to the file's location on the server, and when any visitor clicks that link, he can download the file.

The page to which the form submits will initialize some variables containing the file name, size and the remote upload folder. These variables have different names, depending on the web server you use, but their function is similar. To find what the specific names for this variables are for your particular configuration, consult the manual of the server, the file manipulation section.

When you work with files, you should take into account the following issues:

Maximum file size. This determines how large uploaded files can be. This option depends on each server's configuration and if exceeded, the file will automatically be discarded.
File access rights. To be able to upload files to a server directly from your web application, you must set the right to save files to the specified folder, otherwise an error occurs.
Proxy and cache settings. Certain proxy and cache configurations can limit the maximum allowed file size. Therefore, when you attempt to upload a large file, you might get an error, even if your web server is configured to accept the file. These settings can be changed in the proxy/cache configuration files.

The advanced options:
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- Attaching progress bar indicator while the file is uploaded.
- Show the download and delete links to visitor.
- Adding splash screen with waiting countdown timer.
- Counting how many times the file downloaded by visitors.
- show/hide page elements to protect it from being hacked.
- send download link to others using Send Email and Custom forms.
- and much more...

:: Go To Tutorials :: <http://www.developer-online.com/views_no.php?id_tut=51>

:: Go To Online Demo :: <http://www.developer-online.com/upload_download/index.php>

Best Regards
Waleed Barakat
Developer-Online Creator and programmer
www.developer-online.com <http://www.developer-online.com>

Thanks for posting this - I just needed something to assure a client that a file was being uploaded when they submitted a form, and this does just that.

Very generous of you to take the time to write such a comprehensive tutorial.

Hello Design Stage,
thanks, i am happy to hear that from you.

Thanks, Waleed!

It would be great if you could figure out a way to determine file size before attempting an upload.

For your example site, trying to upload a large file takes a while, then the error message loads saying that the maximum size is 1024K. I've tried to get around this by putting the maximum size on the upload page, but a check for file size would be better.

Hi Purple Edge,

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it would be great if you could figure out a way to determine file size before attempting an upload.
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PHP can only access file data (e.g. size) after it´s been uploaded -- one would have to use Flash for this, as this technology is indeed capable to check such data immediately.

Cheers,
Günter Schenk
Adobe Community Expert, Dreamweaver