media_handle_upload( string $file_id, int $post_id, array $post_data = array(), array $overrides = array('test_form' => \false) ): int|WP_Error

Compatibility

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$file_idstring

Index of the $_FILES array that the file was sent.

$post_idint

The post ID of a post to attach the media item to. Required, but can be set to 0, creating a media item that has no relationship to a post.

$post_dataarrayoptional

Overwrite some of the attachment.Default: array()

$overridesarrayoptional

Override the wp_handle_upload() behavior.Default: array('test_form' => \false)

Return value

int|WP_Error

ID of the attachment or a WP_Error object on failure.

Performance profile

How much work a call to media_handle_upload() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class

Heavy

Reaches the database via get_post().

Scaling

Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions

31–192

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 309.

Plugin surface

None

Nothing here hands control to plugin code.

Called by

2

2 places in core call this, so the cost is paid more often than your own code shows.

What it touches

• querycontent queryget_post()called directly
• optionoption read or writeget_option()one call below media_handle_upload()
• hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()one call below media_handle_upload()

Further down the call graph this can also reach cache, serialize and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 151 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost media_handle_upload() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

This body has more branch combinations than are worth enumerating, so the table covers the outcomes found first rather than every one that exists.

Uses · 17

• current_time()Retrieves the current time based on specified type.
• get_post()Retrieves post data given a post ID or post object.
• wp_handle_upload()Wrapper for _wp_handle_upload().
• wp_basename()i18n-friendly version of basename().
• sanitize_text_field()Sanitizes a string from user input or from the database.
• wp_read_audio_metadata()Retrieves metadata from an audio file's ID3 tags.
• __()Retrieves the translation of $text.
• number_format_i18n()Converts float number to format based on the locale.
• str_starts_with()Polyfill for `str_starts_with()` function added in PHP 8.0.
• wp_read_image_metadata()Gets extended image metadata, exif or iptc as available.
• sanitize_title()Sanitizes a string into a slug, which can be used in URLs or HTML attributes.
• wp_insert_attachment()Inserts an attachment.

Used by · 2

• wp_ajax_upload_attachment()Handles uploading attachments via AJAX.
• wp_media_upload_handler()Handles the process of uploading media.

Source code

View on Trac ↗View on GitHub ↗

295function media_handle_upload( $file_id, $post_id, $post_data = array(), $overrides = array( 'test_form' => false ) ) {296	$time = current_time( 'mysql' );297	$post = get_post( $post_id );298 299	if ( $post ) {300		// The post date doesn't usually matter for pages, so don't backdate this upload.301		if ( 'page' !== $post->post_type && substr( $post->post_date, 0, 4 ) > 0 ) {302			$time = $post->post_date;303		}304	}305 306	$file = wp_handle_upload( $_FILES[ $file_id ], $overrides, $time );307 308	if ( isset( $file['error'] ) ) {309		return new WP_Error( 'upload_error', $file['error'] );310	}311 312	$name = $_FILES[ $file_id ]['name'];313	$ext  = pathinfo( $name, PATHINFO_EXTENSION );314	$name = wp_basename( $name, ".$ext" );315 316	$url     = $file['url'];317	$type    = $file['type'];318	$file    = $file['file'];319	$title   = sanitize_text_field( $name );320	$content = '';321	$excerpt = '';322	$alt     = '';323 324	if ( preg_match( '#^audio#', $type ) ) {325		$meta = wp_read_audio_metadata( $file );326 327		if ( ! empty( $meta['title'] ) ) {328			$title = $meta['title'];329		}330 331		if ( ! empty( $title ) ) {332 333			if ( ! empty( $meta['album'] ) && ! empty( $meta['artist'] ) ) {334				/* translators: 1: Audio track title, 2: Album title, 3: Artist name. */335				$content .= sprintf( __( '"%1$s" from %2$s by %3$s.' ), $title, $meta['album'], $meta['artist'] );336			} elseif ( ! empty( $meta['album'] ) ) {337				/* translators: 1: Audio track title, 2: Album title. */338				$content .= sprintf( __( '"%1$s" from %2$s.' ), $title, $meta['album'] );339			} elseif ( ! empty( $meta['artist'] ) ) {340				/* translators: 1: Audio track title, 2: Artist name. */341				$content .= sprintf( __( '"%1$s" by %2$s.' ), $title, $meta['artist'] );342			} else {343				/* translators: %s: Audio track title. */344				$content .= sprintf( __( '"%s".' ), $title );345			}346		} elseif ( ! empty( $meta['album'] ) ) {347 348			if ( ! empty( $meta['artist'] ) ) {349				/* translators: 1: Audio album title, 2: Artist name. */350				$content .= sprintf( __( '%1$s by %2$s.' ), $meta['album'], $meta['artist'] );351			} else {352				$content .= $meta['album'] . '.';353			}354		} elseif ( ! empty( $meta['artist'] ) ) {355 356			$content .= $meta['artist'] . '.';357 358		}359 360		if ( ! empty( $meta['year'] ) ) {361			/* translators: Audio file track information. %d: Year of audio track release. */362			$content .= ' ' . sprintf( __( 'Released: %d.' ), $meta['year'] );363		}364 365		if ( ! empty( $meta['track_number'] ) ) {366			$track_number = explode( '/', $meta['track_number'] );367 368			if ( is_numeric( $track_number[0] ) ) {369				if ( isset( $track_number[1] ) && is_numeric( $track_number[1] ) ) {370					$content .= ' ' . sprintf(371						/* translators: Audio file track information. 1: Audio track number, 2: Total audio tracks. */372						__( 'Track %1$s of %2$s.' ),373						number_format_i18n( $track_number[0] ),374						number_format_i18n( $track_number[1] )

Changelog

Introduced in 2.5.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

1. 6.7.7
2. 6.8.8
3. 6.9.7
4. 7.0.4
5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data

Generated from the wordpress-develop 7.0.4 tag, from src/wp-admin/includes/media.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.

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