Problem when uploading an image to tumblr using php/curl

Question

I've been trying to create a simple php file that will upload a single image to tumblr. An example is listed here, but it just won't work with images. Here is the code:

<?php
// Authorization info
$tumblr_email    = '[email protected]';
$tumblr_password = 'secret';

// Data for new record
$post_type  = 'photo';

//////////////////////THIS DOESN'T WORK/////////////////////////////////
//$filename = "/Applications/MAMP/htdocs/1.jpeg";
//$handle = fopen($filename, "r");
//$post_data = fread($handle, filesize($filename));

//////////////////////NEITHER DOES THIS/////////////////////////////////
//$post_data = "/Applications/MAMP/htdocs/1.jpg";

///////////////////////////////NOR THIS/////////////////////////////////
//$filename = "/Applications/MAMP/htdocs/1.jpeg";
//$post_data = fopen($filename, "r");


// Prepare POST request
$request_data = http_build_query(
    array(
        'email'     => $tumblr_email,
        'password'  => $tumblr_password,
        'type'      => $post_type,
        'data'      => $post_data,
        'generator' => 'testing tumblr API example'
    )
);

// Send the POST request (with cURL)
$c = curl_init('http://www.tumblr.com/api/write');
curl_setopt($c, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($c, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $request_data);
curl_setopt($c, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
$result = curl_exec($c);
$status = curl_getinfo($c, CURLINFO_HTTP_CODE);
curl_close($c);

// Check for success
if ($status == 201) {
    echo "Success! The new post ID is $result.\n";
} else if ($status == 403) {
    echo 'Bad email or password';
} else {
    echo "Error: $result\n";
}

?> 

I am not that familiar with php/curl, so I have no idea what am I doing wrong. This is also written on tumblr.com:

File uploads can be done in a data parameter where specified above. You may use either of the common encoding methods:

1) multipart/form-data method, like a file upload box in a web form. Maximum size:

...10 MB for photos...

This is recommended since there's much less overhead.

2) Normal POST method, in which the file's entire binary contents are URL-encoded like any other POST variable. Maximum size:

...5 MB for photos...

Thanks.

Answer 1

Try this:

// Authorization info
$tumblr_email    = '[email protected]';
$tumblr_password = 'secret';

// Data for new record
$post_type  = 'photo';

$post_data = "/Applications/MAMP/htdocs/1.jpg";

$request_data = array(
        'email'     => $tumblr_email,
        'password'  => $tumblr_password,
        'type'      => $post_type,
        'data'      => '@'.$post_data,
        'generator' => 'testing tumblr API example'
);

// Send the POST request (with cURL)
$c = curl_init('http://www.tumblr.com/api/write');
curl_setopt($c, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($c, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $request_data);

You need to pass an array to CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, and prepend the absolute path to the file with an @. This will make cURL post the data as multipart/form-data.