Uploading selected image from photo library using AFNetworking and PHP

Question

I am trying to upload an image which selected from photo library using AFNetworking but I am little confused. Some code samples are using image data directly for upload and some are using file path. I want to use AFNetworking sample code here:

NSURLSessionConfiguration *configuration = [NSURLSessionConfiguration 

defaultSessionConfiguration];
AFURLSessionManager *manager = [[AFURLSessionManager alloc] initWithSessionConfiguration:configuration];

NSURL *URL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://example.com/upload"];
NSURLRequest *request = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:URL];

NSURL *filePath = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:@"file://path/to/image.png"];
NSURLSessionUploadTask *uploadTask = [manager uploadTaskWithRequest:request fromFile:filePath progress:nil completionHandler:^(NSURLResponse *response, id responseObject, NSError *error) {
    if (error) {
        NSLog(@"Error: %@", error);
    } else {
        NSLog(@"Success: %@ %@", response, responseObject);
    }
}];
[uploadTask resume];

But I do not know how can I get path of image which I have selected from photo library. Can anyone tell me how can I get path of image which I have selected from photo library?

EDIT 1:
OK! I have found following solution for path:

NSString *path = [NSTemporaryDirectory()
                      stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"upload-image.tmp"];
NSData *imageData = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(originalImage, 1.0);
[imageData writeToFile:path atomically:YES];
[self uploadMedia:path];

Now am still confused becouse I have created a folder for uploaded images on my server. But how AFNetworking will upload this image to my folder without accessing any service.php page. Just http://example.com/upload is enough? When I try to upload I am getting following error:

Error:
Error Domain=kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork
Code=303 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (kCFErrorDomainCFNetwork error 303.)"
UserInfo=0x1175a970 {NSErrorFailingURLKey=http://www.olcayertas.com/arendi,
    NSErrorFailingURLStringKey=http://www.olcayertas.com/arendi}

EDIT 2:
OK. I have managed to solve error with following code:

-(void)uploadMedia:(NSString*)filePath {
    NSURLSessionConfiguration *configuration =
    [NSURLSessionConfiguration defaultSessionConfiguration];

    AFURLSessionManager *manager =
        [[AFURLSessionManager alloc] initWithSessionConfiguration:configuration];

    manager.responseSerializer = [AFHTTPResponseSerializer serializer];

    NSURL *requestURL = 
        [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.olcayertas.com/fileUpload.php"];
    NSMutableURLRequest *request = 
        [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:requestURL];

    [request setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];

    NSURL *filePathURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath];

    NSURLSessionUploadTask *uploadTask =
        [manager uploadTaskWithRequest:request
                      fromFile:filePathURL progress:nil
             completionHandler:^(NSURLResponse *response, id responseObject, NSError *error) {
                 if (error) {
                     NSLog(@"Error: %@", error);
                 } else {
                     NSLog(@"Success: %@ %@", response, responseObject);
                 }
             }];

    [uploadTask resume];
}

I am using following PHP code in server side for uploading file:

<?php header('Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8');

try {

    // Undefined | Multiple Files | $_FILES Corruption Attack
    // If this request falls under any of them, treat it invalid.
    if (!isset($_FILES['upfile']['error']) ||
        is_array($_FILES['upfile']['error'])) {
        throw new RuntimeException('Invalid parameters.');
        error_log("File Upload: Invalid parameters.", 3, "php2.log");
    }

    // Check $_FILES['upfile']['error'] value.
    switch ($_FILES['upfile']['error']) {
        case UPLOAD_ERR_OK:
            break;
        case UPLOAD_ERR_NO_FILE:
            throw new RuntimeException('No file sent.');
            error_log("File Upload: No file sent.", 3, "php2.log");
        case UPLOAD_ERR_INI_SIZE:
        case UPLOAD_ERR_FORM_SIZE:
            throw new RuntimeException('Exceeded filesize limit.');
            error_log("File Upload: Exceeded filesize limit.", 3, "php2.log");
        default:
            throw new RuntimeException('Unknown errors.');
            error_log("File Upload: Unknown errors.", 3, "php2.log");
    }

    // You should also check filesize here.
    if ($_FILES['upfile']['size'] > 1000000) {
        throw new RuntimeException('Exceeded filesize limit.');
        error_log("File Upload: Exceeded filesize limit.", 3, "php2.log");
    }

    // DO NOT TRUST $_FILES['upfile']['mime'] VALUE !!
    // Check MIME Type by yourself.
    $finfo = new finfo(FILEINFO_MIME_TYPE);
    if (false === $ext = array_search(
        $finfo->file($_FILES['upfile']['tmp_name']),
        array(
            'jpg' => 'image/jpeg',
            'png' => 'image/png',
            'gif' => 'image/gif',
        ), true)) {
        throw new RuntimeException('Invalid file format.');
        error_log("File Upload: Invalid file format.", 3, "php2.log");
    }

    // You should name it uniquely.
    // DO NOT USE $_FILES['upfile']['name'] WITHOUT ANY VALIDATION !!
    // On this example, obtain safe unique name from its binary data.
    if (!move_uploaded_file($_FILES['upfile']['tmp_name'], sprintf('./uploads/%s.%s', sha1_file($_FILES['upfile']['tmp_name']), $ext))) {
        throw new RuntimeException('Failed to move uploaded file.');
        error_log("File Upload: Failed to move uploaded file.", 3, "php2.log");
    }

    echo 'File is uploaded successfully.';
    error_log("File Upload: File is uploaded successfully.", 3, "php2.log");

} catch (RuntimeException $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage();
    error_log("File Upload: " . $e->getMessage(), 3, "php2.log");
}

?>

EDIT 3:
Now I have learned how $_FILES works. How ever when I run my code I am getting success message but file is not uploading to server. Any idea what might be wrong?

Answer 1

Afnetworking has a upload method through multipart post.

NSMutableURLRequest *request = [httpClient multipartFormRequestWithMethod:@"POST" path:@"/v1/api" parameters:parameters constructingBodyWithBlock: ^(id <AFMultipartFormData>formData) {
    [formData appendPartWithFileData:imageData name:@"filename" fileName:@"file.jpg" mimeType:@"image/jpeg"];
}];

where imageData is:

UIImage *originalImage = [info objectForKey:UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage];
NSData *imageData = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(originalImage, 1.0);

Answer 2

Use the following code

- (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary *)info {
[picker dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
UIImage *image = info[UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage];
NSMutableDictionary *parameters = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc]init];
[parameters setObject:@"imageUploaing" forKey:@"firstKey"];
NSString *fileName = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%ld%c%c.jpg", (long)[[NSDate date] timeIntervalSince1970], arc4random_uniform(26) + 'a', arc4random_uniform(26) + 'a'];

AFHTTPRequestOperationManager *manager = [AFHTTPRequestOperationManager manager];
NSData *data = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(image, 0.5);
[manager POST:@"http://example.com/resources.json" parameters:parameters constructingBodyWithBlock:^(id<AFMultipartFormData> formData) {
    [formData appendPartWithFileData:data name:@"image" fileName:fileName mimeType:@"image/jpeg"];
} success:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject) {
    NSLog(@"Success: %@", responseObject);
} failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error) {
    NSLog(@"Error: %@", error);
}];

}

Answer 3

Although there are other ways of uploading an image, if you want to use the method you describe then after selecting an image you can get its URL like this:

- (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo:(NSDictionary *)info {
    NSURL *imageURL = [info valueForKey:UIImagePickerControllerReferenceURL];
}

This is assuming you use UIImagePickerController to select an image.