How to select file from server as an input?

[kijciwoko]

Hi!

I have on my server some big and scary piece of html/php code which analyses audio files. Basically user has to select .wav file from his own disc and upload it. I'm using good old <input name=... type="file"> to manage it.

Now, the problem is: I'd like to give the user possibility to select file to analyse directly from the server, from specified location (let's say /home/mine/www/wav/ - I mean the audio files has already been sent to the server, I just want the user to be able to select them to analysis, not files from his own PC). How to do it? Is there some sort of hidden option in <input...> or is it considered as "security risk" and can't be done?

[adb64]

Don't use <input ...> for this because that would mean that the user first has to download the file to his PC and the upload it again to your server. If you only have a few files from which the user may choose list them on a page and the user may click on the file to analyse. If you have many files, you may sort them e.g. alphabetically with one page per letter.

[phranque]

welcome to WebmasterWorld, kijciwoko!

you will have to provide the selection list for the visitor.
there is nothing native in a browser that can look at the filesystem on your server.

[kijciwoko]

Thanks for your answers. Just in case anyone else would need that, I managed to do it with this little trick in php:

$dir = '/some/directory/path/'; 
if (!isset($_POST['submit'])) { 
 if ($dp = opendir($dir)) { 
 $files = array(); 
 while (($file = readdir($dp)) !== false) { 
  if (!is_dir($dir . $file)) { 
  $files[] = $file; 
  } 
 } 
 closedir($dp); 
 } else { 
 exit('Directory not opened.'); 
 } 
 if ($files) { 
 echo '<form action="' . $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] . '" method="post">'; 
 foreach ($files as $file) { 
  echo '<input type="checkbox" name="files[]" value="' . $file . '" /> ' . 
   $file . '<br />'; 
 } 
 echo '<input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit" />' . 
  '</form>'; 
 } else { 
 exit('No files found.'); 
 } 
} else { 
 if (isset($_POST['files'])) { 
 foreach ($_POST['files'] as $value) { 
  echo $dir . $value . '<br />'; 
 } 
 } else { 
 exit('No files selected'); 
 } 
} 

from: [board.phpbuilder.com ] (don't know why the code isn't properly formatted here),

combined with this: [stackoverflow.com ]