Insert multiple files from a single form

Question

i'm trying to create a form to allow users to upload and attribute 10 image files at once to a single table. i followed the howto document:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/htmldb/howtos/tabular_form.html#MANUAL
and was able to create a form w/ten blank rows for insertion. however, the htmldb_item package that is used to write out the form controls does not provide an api to write out a file browse form control. is there another api i can use? if not is there a known kludge?

Answer 1

Scott,
i modified your suggestion and came up w/a more straight forward solution. here's the complete solution...
1. create a report based on a sql query:
select
x.IMG_SKEY
,x.IMG_TITLE_TX
,x.IMG_SRCH_KEYWORDS_TX
,x.file_browse
,x.CATEGORY_CD
from
(select
htmldb_item.hidden(1,IMG_SKEY) img_skey
,htmldb_item.text(2,IMG_TITLE_TX,12) img_title_tx
,htmldb_item.text(3,IMG_SRCH_KEYWORDS_TX,12) img_srch_keywords_tx
,'<input type="file" name="f50" size="30">' file_browse
,htmldb_item.select_list_from_query(4,null,'select category_name_tx , category_cd from image_categories order by 1',null,'NO',null,null,null,null,'NO') CATEGORY_CD
from "#OWNER#"."IMAGES"
where rownum < 0
union all
select
htmldb_item.hidden(1,null) img_skey
,htmldb_item.text(2,null,12) img_title_tx
,htmldb_item.text(3,null,12) img_srch_keywords_tx
,'<input type="file" name="f50" size="30">' file_browse
,htmldb_item.select_list_from_query(4,null,'select category_name_tx, category_cd code_value from image_categories order by 1',null,'NO',null,null,null,null,'NO') CATEGORY_CD
from dual
union all
select
htmldb_item.hidden(1,null) img_skey
,htmldb_item.text(2,null,12) img_title_tx
,htmldb_item.text(3,null,12) img_srch_keywords_tx
,'<input type="file" name="f50" size="30">' file_browse
,htmldb_item.select_list_from_query(4,null,'select category_name_tx, category_cd code_value from image_categories order by 1',null,'NO',null,null,null,null,'NO') CATEGORY_CD
from dual
note: union the null selects to get as many null rows as you want. i named the file control f50 to avoid conflicts. this control name is an array parameter in the wwv_flow.accept procedure that the form submits to. also, i unioned the null selects to the original table query which fetches no rows. this probably isn't necessary, but i left it in from the original example and had it select nothing because i wasn't sure if htmldb refrenced the column datatypes at all.
2. create a page item with the same name as your file control(f50) and change the display = never.
question: Scott, can you give me some insight into why you need this page item for the files to be uploaded. the files won't upload w/o the page item.
3. create a submit button which submits the page to itself. *make sure the button "database action = SQL INSERT action" or your files will not be uploaded to the wwv_flow_file_objects$ table
4. create a process to handle the processing of the form:
process point - after computations and validations
run process - once per page visit(default)
process:
declare
v_img_skey number;
begin
for i in 1..htmldb_application.g_f50.count
loop
if htmldb_application.g_f50(i) is not null then
begin
     select universal_seq.nextval
     into v_img_skey
     from dual;
insert into images(
img_skey
,img_title_tx
,img_srch_keywords_tx
,icat_category_Cd
,img_owner_name_tx
,img_last_updated_dt
values(
v_img_skey
,htmldb_application.g_f02(i)
,htmldb_application.g_f03(i)
,htmldb_application.g_f04(i)
,:APP_USER
,sysdate
end;
end if;
end loop;
end;
note: the value returned from the array htmldb_application.g_f50(i) will be the internal name of the file uploaded. i stripped down my code and removed the sections that move the file from flows_files.wwv_flow_file_objects$ into an image object and inserts it into my custom table, but anyone can use the technical notes on otn and metalink to figure it out.