SEVERE: error uploading image

[Pauldelbrot]

I uploaded a contest entry, then tried to upload something in the Images Showcase gallery and got this, incorrectly:

Code:

An Error Has Occurred!

You have exceeded your maximum upload per day. Upload limit per day is 3

It would have been my second (not fourth) upload of the day.

Either somebody else was able to login as me and uploaded two images between midnight last night and now, or something has gone seriously wrong under the hood.

Viewing http://www.fractalforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=myimages;u=511 establishes that the former did not occur -- there is only one item dated May 17 (as of this writing), rather than the three that would be required for the above error message to not itself have been generated in error. So something's gone wrong with whatever enforces the upload limit and is causing it to trigger after the first upload of the day rather than the third.

Whatever the problem is, it seems to have started today; the same link shows that I was able to upload the nominal maximum of three items yesterday so it cannot have existed yet as of 9 last night when the third of those was uploaded. The problem developed between 9 last night and 3 today, an 18-hour period. Perhaps there's something in the logs in that window that might shed some light.

Needless to say, this must be fixed promptly. It will probably interfere with the contest if allowed to persist. In the worst case, someone assuming the limit is still three might go to make three last minute contest submissions on the final day of the contest not realizing this problem exists and they needed, because of it, to make those submissions on the three successive final days of the submission period. Two of their submissions wouldn't be uploadable until after the submission period ended in that case.

Perhaps the limit should also be per gallery? It was imposed to stop people flooding particular galleries, especially the Images Showcase one, after all. In fact the contest ones might as well be exempt entirely since there's a limit of three per user period in each of those and any further ones will be disqualified; and, again, whether the bug I've encountered today is fixed or not the upload limit could interfere with people's ability to make last-minute submissions on time.

I'd suggest a limit of three per user per day per non-contest gallery, except the user's own gallery, and three per user per contest gallery, if you want to add technical enforcement of the contest's three-per-section-per-user rule. The latter should be "circumventable" by deleting one or moving one out of that section and uploading another, as well, during the submission period so users would still be able to replace an entry if they so chose, even after uploading three in that section. (And a loophole to watch for would be users uploading to their own gallery and then moving to other galleries; items moved out should count the same as uploads to the other gallery vis-a-vis limits, and a move should fail if that move would exceed the destination's limit.)

[cKleinhuis]

hmm, you sure didnt delete an image ?
or submited one twice ? and somehow through server-failovers this counting is wrong ?
does it get fixed on the other day ?
if so absolute deadline is next day for any element...

lol, i just see that we have a maximum of 9 images that should clearly be uploadable at
once - be sure to not flood the server on last days ... -

i will have to set this limit high to 10 images temporarily while contest is running

[Pauldelbrot]

I'm still seeing the error, without having had a single additional upload today. Bumping the limit to 9 didn't affect whatever's making it treat it as 1. The problem is elsewhere than the number having been changed from 3 to 1 (and then to 9).

This is troubling.

It sounds like the limit is not implemented in the best way. It should amount to "go to the user's My Images page and count the number of items since midnight, and see if it's less than the limit; yes = allow, no = deny", but if that is what it is doing and the limit is greater than 1 (and particularly if it is now 9) then I'd be able to upload right now, yet I cannot.

The suggested per-gallery version would be "count the images in the target gallery by the user since midnight; if less than the limit allow upload or move with that destination" except for user's own personal gallery and contest galleries; contest galleries would get "count the images in the target gallery by the user" without the "since midnight" bit. Also maybe with each gallery having its own limit (so the limit could be different for some galleries and still 3 for contest sections, for example).

I'd suggest any quick fix you can do right now, but also completely reimplement the limit function from scratch somewhere down the line to avoid this sort of problem or messiness in the future.

[taurus]

are you sure, that you are in the same time zone as the server? maybe you are tomorrow, while the server is still today...

[Pauldelbrot]

I'm going by the dates and times reported at the page I linked to listing my past uploads. If the limit isn't going by the same times and dates then IMO that constitutes a bug, not least because it leaves the user with no reliable way to avoid getting a "naughty naughty" finger wagged in his face now and again short of waiting a full 24 hours between the last of one trio of uploads and the first of the next to ensure that no matter where the server is putting its day boundaries it won't ever think that four were in the same day. In other words, consulting one's own reported history of uploads should let one know with certainty whether one would be going over the limit in attempting an upload at the time or not, and exactly the minimum time to wait for if necessary, but apparently it currently does not.

[cKleinhuis]

dude, i go now and adjust the allowed file numbers, and you are always frightening me to death with your emails, when i read
SEVERE i thought it was something SEVERE, you know ? and with severe i understand server webspace is full right in the compo,
or  internal server errors, but you are just reporting a setting in the gallery config, this might upset you somehow, but it is
definately not severe, it could have been severe if it was reported 1 minute before deadline

i go and set it to ten now!

[Pauldelbrot]

dude, i go now and adjust the allowed file numbers, and you are always frightening me to death with your emails,

What emails?

when i read SEVERE i thought it was something SEVERE, you know ? and with severe i understand server webspace is full right in the compo, or  internal server errors, but you are just reporting a setting in the gallery config, this might upset you somehow, but it is
definately not severe, it could have been severe if it was reported 1 minute before deadline

I consider error messages when uploading while there's a competition going to be severe.

i go and set it to ten now!

OK.