Validating multiple file uploads with Laravel 4

Question

How do I go about validating an array of uploaded files in Laravel 4? I\'ve set it in the form to allow multiple files, and I\'ve tested that the files exist in the Input::file(

Answer 1

foreach(Request::file('photos') as $key => $value) {
    $rules['photos.'.$key]="mimes:jpeg,jpg,png,gif|required|max:10000";
    $friendly_names['photos.'.$key]="photos";
}

This worked for me in Laravel 5.2

Answer 2

It might not be the direct answer for your question, but you can do a simple validation check on types like this:

$file = Input::file('files');

switch($file->getClientMimeType()){
      case 'application/pdf':
           // upload stuff
      break;
}

Answer 3

I think, this is basically your initial solution. For anybody who's still confused, here's some code that worked for me…

// Handle upload(s) with input name "files[]" (array) or "files" (single file upload)

if (Input::hasFile('files')) {
    $all_uploads = Input::file('files');

    // Make sure it really is an array
    if (!is_array($all_uploads)) {
        $all_uploads = array($all_uploads);
    }

    $error_messages = array();

    // Loop through all uploaded files
    foreach ($all_uploads as $upload) {
        // Ignore array member if it's not an UploadedFile object, just to be extra safe
        if (!is_a($upload, 'Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\File\UploadedFile')) {
            continue;
        }

        $validator = Validator::make(
            array('file' => $upload),
            array('file' => 'required|mimes:jpeg,png|image|max:1000')
        );

        if ($validator->passes()) {
            // Do something
        } else {
            // Collect error messages
            $error_messages[] = 'File "' . $upload->getClientOriginalName() . '":' . $validator->messages()->first('file');
        }
    }

    // Redirect, return JSON, whatever...
    return $error_messages;
} else {
    // No files have been uploaded
}

Answer 4

Well, I'm not exactly sure what was causing the error, but after playing around a bit with the validator, I figured out that I couldn't just pass all the files at once. Instead, I made a new array that associated each file with keys 'file0', 'file1', etc. Then I passed these to the validator and set rules for each one (using a foreach loop). Then the validator worked as expected. Still, it wasn't flexible enough for my needs and I ended up using a non-laravel solution.