Question

I have a file upload form

how can I retain this file when there are other validation errors so that the user doesn’t have to upload the file again?

I tried this in my validation function but it doesn’t work:

function mymodule_someform_validate($form, &$form_state) {
  $form_state["values"]["some_field"] = some_value;
}

the $form_state[“values”] variable is not available in my form definition function – mymodule_someform($form, &$form_state)

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Just use the managed_file type, it’ll do it for you:

$form['my_file_field'] = array(
  '#type' => 'managed_file',
  '#title' => 'File',
  '#upload_location' => 'public://my-folder/'
);

And then in your submit handler:

// Load the file via file.fid.
$file = file_load($form_state['values']['my_file_field']);

// Change status to permanent.
$file->status = FILE_STATUS_PERMANENT;

// Save.
file_save($file);

If the validation fails and the user leaves the form, the file will be automatically deleted a few hours later (as all files in the file_managed table without FILE_STATUS_PERMANENT are). If the validation doesn’t fail, the submit handler will be run and the file will be marked as permanent in the system.