Attachment component for CakePHP handles file uploads to the file system. If
it’s an image file, it creates thumbnail copies in
/app/webroot/attachments/photos/{required_sizes} folder; while other files
are stored in /app/webroot/attachments/files.

I’ve started it from the public copy at
http://sabbour.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/enhanced-image-upload-component-for-cakephp-12/
to have a standard way of uploading files to CakePHP projects.

Usage

1. Copy attachment.php to /app/controllers/components/
2. Add component to your controller: var $components = array('Attachment');
3. In your upload form:
   1. echo $form->create('Model', array('type' => 'file'));
   2. echo $form->file('Attachment');

Filesystem storage (default)

1. In your controller action (save file_path):
   $file_path = $this->Attachment->upload($this->data['Model']['Attachment']);
2. In your view, if it’s an image:
   <?= $html->image('/attachments/$folderName/{size}/'.$data['Model']['file_path']); ?>

Database storage

1. Change $config['database'] = true in attachment.php.
2. In your controller action:
   $binary_data = $this->Attachment->upload($this->data['Model']['Attachment']);
3. Save $binary_data to database binary column:
   $this->data['Model']['file_contents'] = $binary_data

(No image processing yet, to-do!)

Configuration options

• photos_dir: The folder which will hold the files, inside /app/webroot/attachments/.
• database: Whether to save the images in the database or the filesystem.
• allow_non_image_files, self descriptive ;-) .
• images_size: Array of different file sizes required by your app. Each
  element is itself an array, like:
  'folder_name' => array($width, $height, $do_crop).

You can override the default configuration passing an array of options while
including the component, like:
var $components = array('Attachment' => array('photos_dir' => 'pets'));

(Check the $config array defined at the first lines of the component to see
default values and the syntax.)

Methods

upload($data)

• data: file data array from the form. If it’s an image, it calls:

thumbnail($data, $upload_dir, $maxw, $maxh, $crop = false)

• data: the image data array from the form
• upload_dir: the name of the parent folder of the images
• maxw/maxh: maximum width/height for resizing images
• crop: indicates if image must be cropped or not (defaults to false)

delete_files($filename)

• filename: file-to-delete name

Requirements

• PHP GD library installed and enabled
• /app/webroot/ must be writable by the web server (or you can create
  /app/webroot/attachments/ and make writable that folder).
• You must store in database $file_path returned by
  $this->Attachment->upload in order to reference the file.

To do list

• Image resize in upload_DB.