Bug 21020 – Fileupload <input type=file> can't be manipulated

• Status: NEW
• Component: Forms

[Thorsten Dencker]

Hello,

the HTML tag <input type=file> can't be manipulated by the user. We tested with the latest available Safari 4 build - 528.1.1

1) It's not possible to delete a file after choosing one. In IE it's possible to delete it with the del key. In our view it's very important to give the user a change to delete the field which he filled out by mistake. 
2) Not possible to copy and paste the content of the field. 
3) You can't edit the field. 

I added a very simple example of a HTML file.

Regards
Thorsten

[Thorsten Dencker]

Created attachment 23696 [details]
Simple HTML example

[Alexey Proskuryakov]

(1) is tracked as bug 16870.
(2) sounds like a valid issue to me.  It should be possible to paste a file copied from Finder or Windows Explorer into a form - although this poses the question of what to do if multiple files are on the pasteboard.
I'm not sure what (3) means - what kind of editing would you expect, given our file upload element design, and why would it be helpful?

[Thorsten Dencker]

point 1) is the most important issue. 

point 2) also important to be able to copy the path with ctrl + c (windows platform)

point 3) It's not about the design (even it would be nice). It's about to edit the field with keyboard e.g. you choose the file secret.doc to upload and you like to change it to officialVersion.doc.

It's obviously that this should not be possible by JavaScript but the user should be able to manipulate the file in the box. 

[Alexey Proskuryakov]

(In reply to comment #3)
> point 3) It's not about the design (even it would be nice). It's about to edit
> the field with keyboard e.g. you choose the file secret.doc to upload and you
> like to change it to officialVersion.doc.

I'm not sure how well this would work, as that we don't even display a full path - giving an ability to only edit the file name seems limiting and error-prone. Anyway, it would be better to file a new bug to discuss the suggested design to avoid confusion between the multiple issues mentioned here.

[Dave Hyatt]

The principle of our file upload control design is that no invalid file can be chosen by the user.  Sticking with this principle, copying or deleting are ok.  Pasting is not, since it could lead to the pasting of some arbitrary nonsense string.  We do not plan to support editing of the field (the user can always pick a different file by clicking the field).

[Ahmad Saleem]

Does not mean to bump such old bug, but its looks annoying on site and people think of it as site compatibility issue of browser (Chrome & Safari). It should be get fixed. Several site face this issue like:
tinypic.com
picpanda.com

[Jon Lee]

I don't think anything has changed in terms of policy since Hyatt's last comment. But I agree that unselecting the file is definitely something that should be implemented. That's being tracked in 16870, so I would suggest moving this particular bug to won't fix/dupe.

[Jon Lee]

<rdar://problem/6296678>

[Radar WebKit Bug Importer]

<rdar://problem/10063460>