Upload multiple files with curl

Question

How do I upload multiple files in an array using CURLFile and curl_setopt?

Using the data array as it would throw an error (can't convert an array to a string) and http_build_query on the data would corrupt the CURLFile objects.

The data I have to upload looks like that:

[
    'mode' => 'combine',
    'input' => 'upload',
    'format' => $outputformat,
    'files' => [
        [0] => CURLFile object,
        [1] => CURLFile object,
        [x] => ...
    ]
]

Answer 1

PHP 5.5+ has a function to create files without using CURLFile: curl_file_create.

You can upload multiple files like this:

<?php

$files = [
    '/var/file/something.txt',
    '/home/another_file.txt',
];

// Set postdata array
$postData = ['somevar' => 'hello'];

// Create array of files to post
foreach ($files as $index => $file) {
    $postData['file[' . $index . ']'] = curl_file_create(
        realpath($file),
        mime_content_type($file),
        basename($file)
    );
}

$request = curl_init('https://localhost/upload');
curl_setopt($request, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($request, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $postData);
curl_setopt($request, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
$result = curl_exec($request);

if ($result === false) {
    error_log(curl_error($request));
}

curl_close($request);

This will be received on the server as an array under file the same as if there was a posted form, this is $_FILES:

Array
(
    [file] => Array
        (
            [name] => Array
                (
                    [0] => 1.txt
                    [1] => 2.txt
                )

            [type] => Array
                (
                    [0] => text/plain
                    [1] => text/plain
                )

            [tmp_name] => Array
                (
                    [0] => /private/var/folders/cq/7262ntt15mqdmylblg9p1wf80000gn/T/phpp8SsKD
                    [1] => /private/var/folders/cq/7262ntt15mqdmylblg9p1wf80000gn/T/php73ijEP
                )

            [error] => Array
                (
                    [0] => 0
                    [1] => 0
                )

            [size] => Array
                (
                    [0] => 6
                    [1] => 6
                )

        )

)

This is $_POST:

Array
(
    [somevar] => hello
)