File upload statistics

From RuntimeWiki

Idea

The <input type="file"> file upload DOM object (and similarly any multiple-file-upload form element as suggested in Multiple files field) should have readable object properties:

• file size in bytes
• time of download start (so that elapsed time can be computed)
• as-of-now uploaded bytes
• recent upload bandwidth (low value indicates stalled connection)

Why

This information allows the creation of a full client-side upload progress bar for ajax file upload forms. As of now, such progress bars require frequent server queries to retrieve the above information.

Security

Normally, all of this information is sent to the receiving server and can be known to any potential attacker. Hence, providing this information to the client-side JavaScript does not add any new security risks.