Monitoring File Uploads using Ajax and PHP

Installing APC

Before we can begin implementing our file upload monitor we must install the Alternative PHP Cache extension (APC). If you are using a UNIX based operating system, the simplest way to install APC is to use the PECL command line installer.

Specifically, you should use the following command:

# pecl install apc

Executing this command should result in the necessary files being downloaded, compiled and installed. You will then need to modify your php.ini file to load the extension. If you built PHP from source the typical location for php.ini is /usr/local/lib/php.ini. If you use FreeBSD and used ports to install PHP then php.ini can be found in /usr/local/etc/php.ini.

extension=apc.so

If you are instead running PHP on Windows, the extension DLL file should already exist – it simply needs to be activated in the php.ini (typically in c:\windows\php.ini) file using a similar command to above:

extension=php_apc.dll

Enabling File Upload Monitoring

Next the feature of APC that monitors file uploads must be activated. To do so, the apc.rfc1867 setting must be switched on.

Simply add the following line to your php.ini file.

apc.rfc1867 = On

Restarting Your Web Server

Once the changes described in this section have been made you must restart your web server. To do so you can type apachectl restart in UNIX or simply restart the Apache service in Windows.

After the web server has been restarted, confirm the changes by viewing the phpinfo() output for your web server. If all is working, there will be an APC section on this page (in which the apc.rfc1867 setting will be switched to On).
 

• Next: Using APC to Monitor a File Upload

Additional Files

• FileUploader.js
  (2KB)
• FileUploader.php
  (3KB)
• prototype.js
  (121KB)