drupal module configuration process uploaded file - drupal

Question

How can I process a file upload in a module configuration section? Here is what I have so far.
<?php
function dc_staff_directory_admin_settings()
{
$form['dc_staff_directory_upload_file'] = array(
'#type' => 'file',
'#title' => t('Upload staff directory excel (.xls) file'),
'#description' => t('Uploading a file will replace the current staff directory'),
);
$form['#submit'][] = 'dc_staff_directory_process_uploaded_file';
return system_settings_form($form);
}
function dc_staff_directory_process_uploaded_file($form, &$form_state)
{
//What can I do here to get the file data?
}

Answer 1

If you use the managed_file type instead Drupal will do most of the processing for you, you just need to mark the file for permanent storage in your submit function:
function dc_staff_directory_admin_settings() {
$form['dc_staff_directory_upload_file'] = array(
'#type' => 'managed_file',
'#title' => t('Upload staff directory excel (.xls) file'),
'#description' => t('Uploading a file will replace the current staff directory'),
'#upload_location' => 'public://path/'
);
$form['#submit'][] = 'dc_staff_directory_process_uploaded_file';
$form['#validate'][] = 'dc_staff_directory_validate_uploaded_file';
return system_settings_form($form);
}
function db_staff_directory_validate_uploaded_file($form, &$form_state) {
if (!isset($form_state['values']['dc_staff_directory_upload_file']) || !is_numeric($form_state['values']['dc_staff_directory_upload_file'])) {
form_set_error('dc_staff_directory_upload_file', t('Please select an file to upload.'));
}
}
function dc_staff_directory_process_uploaded_file($form, &$form_state) {
if ($form_state['values']['dc_staff_directory_upload_file'] != 0) {
// The new file's status is set to 0 or temporary and in order to ensure
// that the file is not removed after 6 hours we need to change it's status
// to 1.
$file = file_load($form_state['values']['dc_staff_directory_upload_file']);
$file->status = FILE_STATUS_PERMANENT;
file_save($file);
}
}
The validate function is probably a good idea as well, obviously you won't need it if the file is not a required field.
This is mostly taken from the image_example module, part of the Examples Module. If you really don't want to use the managed_file type have a look at the file_example module in that same collection, it has examples of how to uploaded an unmanaged file.
Hope that helps