Validation of file extension before uploading file

Question

I am uploading images to a servlet. The validation whether the uploaded file is an image is done in server side only, by checking the magic numbers in the file header. Is there any way to validate the extensions in client side before submitting the form to servlet? As soon as I hit enter it starts uploading.

I am using Javascript and jQuery in client side.

Update: I was finally ended up with server side validation which reads bytes & rejects the upload if it is not an image.

Answer 1

You can create an array that includes the filetype that is needed and use $.inArray() in jQuery to check if filetype exist in array.

var imageType = ['jpeg', 'jpg', 'png', 'gif', 'bmp'];  

// Given that file is a file object and file.type is string 
// like "image/jpeg", "image/png", or "image/gif" and so on...

if (-1 == $.inArray(file.type.split('/')[1], imageType)) {
  console.log('Not an image type');
}

Answer 2

check that if file is selected or not

       if (document.myform.elements["filefield"].value == "")
          {
             alert("You forgot to attach file!");
             document.myform.elements["filefield"].focus();
             return false;  
         }

check the file extension

  var res_field = document.myform.elements["filefield"].value;   
  var extension = res_field.substr(res_field.lastIndexOf('.') + 1).toLowerCase();
  var allowedExtensions = ['doc', 'docx', 'txt', 'pdf', 'rtf'];
  if (res_field.length > 0)
     {
          if (allowedExtensions.indexOf(extension) === -1) 
             {
               alert('Invalid file Format. Only ' + allowedExtensions.join(', ') + ' are allowed.');
               return false;
             }
    }

Answer 3

None of the existing answers seemed quite compact enough for the simplicity of the request. Checking if a given file input field has an extension from a set can be accomplished as follows:

function hasExtension(inputID, exts) {
    var fileName = document.getElementById(inputID).value;
    return (new RegExp('(' + exts.join('|').replace(/\./g, '\\.') + ')$')).test(fileName);
}

So example usage might be (where upload is the id of a file input):

if (!hasExtension('upload', ['.jpg', '.gif', '.png']) {
    // ... block upload
}

Or as a jQuery plugin:

$.fn.hasExtension = function(exts) {
    return (new RegExp('(' + exts.join('|').replace(/\./g, '\\.') + ')$')).test($(this).val());
}

Example usage:

if (!$('#upload').hasExtension(['.jpg', '.png', '.gif'])) {
    // ... block upload
}

The .replace(/\./g, '\\.') is there to escape the dot for the regexp so that basic extensions can be passed in without the dots matching any character.

There's no error checking on these to keep them short, presumably if you use them you'll make sure the input exists first and the extensions array is valid!

Answer 4

I like this example:

<asp:FileUpload ID="fpImages" runat="server" title="maximum file size 1 MB or less" onChange="return validateFileExtension(this)" />

<script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
    function ValidateFileUpload(Source, args) {
        var fuData = document.getElementById('<%= fpImages.ClientID %>');
        var FileUploadPath = fuData.value;

        if (FileUploadPath == '') {
            // There is no file selected 
            args.IsValid = false;
        }
        else {
            var Extension = FileUploadPath.substring(FileUploadPath.lastIndexOf('.') + 1).toLowerCase();
            if (Extension == "gif" || Extension == "png" || Extension == "bmp" || Extension == "jpeg") {
                args.IsValid = true; // Valid file type
                FileUploadPath == '';
            }
            else {
                args.IsValid = false; // Not valid file type
            }
        }
    }
</script>

Answer 5

This is the best solution in my opinion, which is by far much shorter than the other ones:

function OnSelect(e) {
    var acceptedFiles = [".jpg", ".jpeg", ".png", ".gif"];
    var isAcceptedImageFormat = ($.inArray(e.files[0].extension, acceptedFiles)) != -1;

    if (!isAcceptedImageFormat) {
        $('#warningMessage').show();
    }
    else {
        $('#warningMessage').hide();
    }
}

In this case, the function is called from a Kendo Upload control with this setting:

.Events(e => e.Select("OnSelect")).

Answer 6

Here is a more reusable way, assuming you use jQuery

Library function (does not require jQuery):

function stringEndsWithValidExtension(stringToCheck, acceptableExtensionsArray, required) {
    if (required == false && stringToCheck.length == 0) { return true; }
    for (var i = 0; i < acceptableExtensionsArray.length; i++) {
        if (stringToCheck.toLowerCase().endsWith(acceptableExtensionsArray[i].toLowerCase())) { return true; }
    }
    return false;
}


String.prototype.startsWith = function (str) { return (this.match("^" + str) == str) }

String.prototype.endsWith = function (str) { return (this.match(str + "$") == str) }

Page function (requires jQuery (barely)):

$("[id*='btnSaveForm']").click(function () {
    if (!stringEndsWithValidExtension($("[id*='fileUploader']").val(), [".png", ".jpeg", ".jpg", ".bmp"], false)) {
        alert("Photo only allows file types of PNG, JPG and BMP.");
        return false;
    }
    return true;
});