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  5. file Field Type
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Table of Contents

  • Basic Usage
  • Field Options
    • multiple
  • Overridden Options
    • compound
    • data_class
    • empty_data
  • Inherited Options
    • disabled
    • error_bubbling
    • error_mapping
    • label
    • label_attr
    • label_format
    • mapped
    • read_only
    • required
  • Form Variables

file Field Type

Edit this page

Warning: You are browsing the documentation for Symfony 2.7, which is no longer maintained.

Read the updated version of this page for Symfony 6.2 (the current stable version).

file Field Type

The file type represents a file input in your form.

Rendered as input file field
Options
  • multiple
Overridden options
  • compound
  • data_class
  • empty_data
Inherited options
  • disabled
  • error_bubbling
  • error_mapping
  • label
  • label_attr
  • label_format
  • mapped
  • read_only
  • required
Parent type form
Class FileType

Basic Usage

Say you have this form definition:

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$builder->add('attachment', 'file');

When the form is submitted, the attachment field will be an instance of UploadedFile. It can be used to move the attachment file to a permanent location:

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use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\File\UploadedFile;

public function uploadAction()
{
    // ...

    if ($form->isSubmitted() && $form->isValid()) {
        $someNewFilename = ...

        $file = $form['attachment']->getData();
        $file->move($directory, $someNewFilename);

        // ...
    }

    // ...
}

The move() method takes a directory and a file name as its arguments. You might calculate the filename in one of the following ways:

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// use the original file name
$file->move($directory, $file->getClientOriginalName());

// compute a random name and try to guess the extension (more secure)
$extension = $file->guessExtension();
if (!$extension) {
    // extension cannot be guessed
    $extension = 'bin';
}
$file->move($directory, rand(1, 99999).'.'.$extension);

Using the original name via getClientOriginalName() is not safe as it could have been manipulated by the end-user. Moreover, it can contain characters that are not allowed in file names. You should sanitize the name before using it directly.

Read How to Upload Files for an example of how to manage a file upload associated with a Doctrine entity.

Field Options

multiple

type: Boolean default: false

When set to true, the user will be able to upload multiple files at the same time.

Overridden Options

compound

type: boolean default: false

This option specifies whether the type contains child types or not. This option is managed internally for built-in types, so there is no need to configure it explicitly.

data_class

type: string default: File

This option sets the appropriate file-related data mapper to be used by the type.

empty_data

type: mixed default: null

This option determines what value the field will return when the submitted value is empty.

Inherited Options

These options inherit from the form type:

disabled

type: boolean default: false

If you don't want a user to modify the value of a field, you can set the disabled option to true. Any submitted value will be ignored.

error_bubbling

type: boolean default: false unless the form is compound

If true, any errors for this field will be passed to the parent field or form. For example, if set to true on a normal field, any errors for that field will be attached to the main form, not to the specific field.

error_mapping

type: array default: array()

This option allows you to modify the target of a validation error.

Imagine you have a custom method named matchingCityAndZipCode() that validates whether the city and zip code match. Unfortunately, there is no "matchingCityAndZipCode" field in your form, so all that Symfony can do is display the error on top of the form.

With customized error mapping, you can do better: map the error to the city field so that it displays above it:

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public function configureOptions(OptionsResolver $resolver)
{
    $resolver->setDefaults(array(
        'error_mapping' => array(
            'matchingCityAndZipCode' => 'city',
        ),
    ));
}

Here are the rules for the left and the right side of the mapping:

  • The left side contains property paths;
  • If the violation is generated on a property or method of a class, its path is simply propertyName;
  • If the violation is generated on an entry of an array or ArrayAccess object, the property path is [indexName];
  • You can construct nested property paths by concatenating them, separating properties by dots. For example: addresses[work].matchingCityAndZipCode;
  • The right side contains simply the names of fields in the form.

By default, errors for any property that is not mapped will bubble up to the parent form. You can use the dot (.) on the left side to map errors of all unmapped properties to a particular field. For instance, to map all these errors to the city field, use:

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$resolver->setDefaults(array(
    'error_mapping' => array(
        '.' => 'city',
    ),
));

label

type: string default: The label is "guessed" from the field name

Sets the label that will be used when rendering the field. Setting to false will suppress the label. The label can also be directly set inside the template:

  • Twig
  • PHP
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{{ form_label(form.name, 'Your name') }}
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echo $view['form']->label(
    $form['name'],
    'Your name'
);

label_attr

type: array default: array()

Sets the HTML attributes for the <label> element, which will be used when rendering the label for the field. It's an associative array with HTML attribute as a key. This attributes can also be directly set inside the template:

  • Twig
  • PHP
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{{ form_label(form.name, 'Your name', {
       'label_attr': {'class': 'CUSTOM_LABEL_CLASS'}
}) }}
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echo $view['form']->label(
    $form['name'],
    'Your name',
    array('label_attr' => array('class' => 'CUSTOM_LABEL_CLASS'))
);

label_format

2.6

The label_format option was introduced in Symfony 2.6.

type: string default: null

Configures the string used as the label of the field, in case the label option was not set. This is useful when using keyword translation messages.

If you're using keyword translation messages as labels, you often end up having multiple keyword messages for the same label (e.g. profile_address_street, invoice_address_street). This is because the label is build for each "path" to a field. To avoid duplicated keyword messages, you can configure the label format to a static value, like:

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// ...
$profileFormBuilder->add('address', new AddressType(), array(
    'label_format' => 'form.address.%name%',
));

$invoiceFormBuilder->add('invoice', new AddressType(), array(
    'label_format' => 'form.address.%name%',
));

This option is inherited by the child types. With the code above, the label of the street field of both forms will use the form.address.street keyword message.

Two variables are available in the label format:

%id%
A unique identifier for the field, consisting of the complete path to the field and the field name (e.g. profile_address_street);
%name%
The field name (e.g. street).

The default value (null) results in a "humanized" version of the field name.

Note

The label_format option is evaluated in the form theme. Make sure to update your templates in case you customized form theming.

mapped

type: boolean default: true

If you wish the field to be ignored when reading or writing to the object, you can set the mapped option to false.

read_only

type: boolean default: false

If this option is true, the field will be rendered with the readonly attribute so that the field is not editable.

required

type: boolean default: true

If true, an HTML5 required attribute will be rendered. The corresponding label will also render with a required class.

This is superficial and independent from validation. At best, if you let Symfony guess your field type, then the value of this option will be guessed from your validation information.

Note

The required option also affects how empty data for each field is handled. For more details, see the empty_data option.

Form Variables

Variable Type Usage
type string The type variable is set to file, in order to render as a file input field.
This work, including the code samples, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license.
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