Document Upload

Overview

vLife DGO uses Multer for handling file uploads with a 20MB file size limit. Documents are stored with UUID-based filenames for security and organization. Different evaluation types require different sets of documents.

Multer Configuration

Storage Setup

Documents are stored in the public/uploads directory with UUID-based naming:

import multer from "multer";
import { v4 as uuidv4 } from 'uuid';
import * as path from "path";

const storage = multer.diskStorage({
  destination: path.join(__dirname, 'public/uploads'),
  filename: (req, file, cb) => {
    const fecha = new Date();
    const mes = fecha.getMonth() + 1;
    const dia = fecha.getDay();
    cb(null, uuidv4() + dia + mes + '.pdf');
  }
});

UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) ensures each uploaded file has a unique name, preventing conflicts and enhancing security.

File Size Limit

A 20MB limit is enforced with custom error handling:

const fileSizeLimitErrorHandler = (err, req, res, next) => {
  if (err) {
    req.flash('message', 'El archivo excede los 20MB');
    res.redirect('back');
  } else {
    next();
  }
};

app.use(multer({
  storage: storage,
  limits: { fileSize: 20000000 },
}).single('file'), fileSizeLimitErrorHandler);

The 20MB limit (20,000,000 bytes) is a hard limit. Files exceeding this size will be rejected with an error message.

Document Requirements by Evaluation Type

Permanencia (tipo_eval = 1)

Mandatory Documents (5):

Document ID	Document Name	Description
1	Acta de Nacimiento	Birth certificate
2	INE	Official identification
3	Comprobante de Domicilio	Proof of residence
4	Comprobante de Estudios	Educational certificates
5	Comprobante de Ingresos	Proof of income

Optional Documents:

Document ID	Document Name	Description
6	Estado de Cuenta Bancaria	Bank statements
7	Cartilla Militar	Military service card
8	Reporte de Crédito	Credit report
9	Cuenta Departamental	Departmental accounts
10	Comprobante Pago Pareja	Spouse payment proof
11	Fotografía Fachada	Property facade photo
12	Documentos de Inmuebles	Real estate documents
13	Licencia Portación de Arma	Weapon carrying license
14	Tarjeta de Circulación	Vehicle registration
15	Procedimientos Legales	Legal proceedings
16	Actividades Informales	Informal activities

Nuevo Ingreso (tipo_eval = 2)

Mandatory Documents (6):

Document ID	Document Name	Description
1	Acta de Nacimiento	Birth certificate
2	INE	Official identification
3	Comprobante de Domicilio	Proof of residence
4	Comprobante de Estudios	Educational certificates
5	Cartilla Militar	Military service card
-	Motivo de Ingreso	Reason for joining (text field)

The “Motivo de Ingreso” is captured as text rather than an uploaded document, but counts toward completion requirements.

Upload Process

File Upload Flow

Navigate to Upload View

User selects which document to upload from evaluation dashboard.

Select File

User chooses PDF file from their device (max 20MB).

Upload and Process

Multer handles the upload, generates UUID filename, and stores in uploads directory.

Save to Database

File reference is saved to database linked to evaluation and document type.

Return to Evaluation

User is redirected back to evaluation view with success message.

Upload View Controller

import ncrypt from "ncrypt-js";
import { PoolvLife, keyDecrypt } from "../database/connection.js";

const FileUploadView = async (req, res) => {
  const { documentoID, enctyptedData } = req.params;
  
  try {
    const ncryptObjet = new ncrypt(keyDecrypt.key);
    const decryptedData = ncryptObjet.decrypt(enctyptedData);
    
    // Get document information
    const [GetDocument] = await PoolvLife.query(
      FileUploadModel.GetDocument,
      documentoID
    );
    
    const numLeyenda = parseInt(documentoID);
    
    res.render("fileUpload/fileUploadView", {
      user: req.session.name,
      enctyptedData,
      decryptedData,
      documentoID,
      InfoDocument: GetDocument[0],
      numLeyenda
    });
  } catch (e) {
    req.flash("message", "Algo salio mal !");
    res.redirect("back");
  }
};

Upload Handler

const UploadFile = async (req, res) => {
  const { evalID, documentoID, enctyptedData } = req.body;
  const uploadFileName = req.file["filename"];
  
  const dataPacket = { evalID, documentoID, uploadFileName };
  
  try {
    await PoolvLife.query(FileUploadModel.SaveDocument, [dataPacket]);
    req.flash("success", "Documento cargado con exito");
    res.redirect(`/evaluacionvLife/evaluacionView/${enctyptedData}`);
  } catch (e) {
    req.flash("message", "Algo salio mal !");
    res.redirect("back");
    console.log(e);
  }
};

The uploaded filename is generated by Multer and accessed via req.file["filename"]. This filename is stored in the database for later retrieval.

File Naming Convention

UUID-Based Naming

Each uploaded file receives a unique name:

filename: (req, file, cb) => {
  const fecha = new Date();
  const mes = fecha.getMonth() + 1;  // Month (1-12)
  const dia = fecha.getDay();         // Day of week (0-6)
  cb(null, uuidv4() + dia + mes + '.pdf');
}

Example filename:

a8f5e3c2-6d4b-4a1c-9e8f-2b5c7d9e1f3a25.pdf

Breakdown:

a8f5e3c2-6d4b-4a1c-9e8f-2b5c7d9e1f3a - UUID
2 - Day of week
5 - Month
.pdf - Extension

The naming convention uses day of week (0-6) rather than day of month. This is a potential area for improvement to use full date information.

Storage Organization

Directory Structure

project-root/
└── src/
    └── public/
        └── uploads/
            ├── a8f5e3c2-6d4b-4a1c-9e8f-2b5c7d9e1f3a25.pdf
            ├── b9e6f4d3-7e5c-5b2d-af9g-3c6d8e0f2g4b36.pdf
            └── ...

All uploaded documents are stored in a single directory. The database maintains the relationship between files and evaluations.

Database Storage

The database stores:

evalID - Links file to specific evaluation
documentoID - Identifies document type
uploadFileName - UUID-based filename
uploadID - Unique identifier for the upload record

Document Validation

Required vs Optional

The evaluation view checks for required documents:

// For Permanencia
const ActaPerma = GetActaPerma.length;
const InePerma = GetINEPerma.length;
const DomicilioPerma = GetDomicilioPerma.length;
const EstudiosPerma = GetEstudiosPerma.length;
const IngresosPerma = GetIngresosPerma.length;

const TotalCargaPerma = ActaPerma + InePerma + DomicilioPerma + 
                         EstudiosPerma + IngresosPerma;

if (TotalCargaPerma === 5) {
  // All required documents uploaded
}

Completion Check

For evaluation finalization:

Permanencia
Nuevo Ingreso

if (TotalCaptura === 6 && TotalCargaPerma === 5) {
  const ListoRevision = true;
  // Ready for review
}

Requires 6 data sections + 5 mandatory documents

if (TotalCaptura === 6 && TotalCargaNI === 6) {
  const ListoRevision = true;
  // Ready for review
}

Requires 6 data sections + 6 mandatory documents

Deleting Uploaded Documents

Employees can delete and re-upload documents:

const DeleteFile = async (req, res) => {
  const { uploadID } = req.body;
  
  try {
    await PoolvLife.query(FileUploadModel.DeleteFile, uploadID);
    req.flash("success", "Documento borrado con exito");
    res.redirect("back");
  } catch (e) {
    req.flash("message", "Algo salio mal !");
    res.redirect("back");
  }
};

Deleting from the database removes the file reference, but the physical file remains in the uploads directory. Consider implementing physical file cleanup for production.

Special Handling: Motivo de Ingreso

For Nuevo Ingreso evaluations, “Motivo de Ingreso” is text-based:

const IngresosMotivo = async (req, res) => {
  const { evalID, motivoDescripcion, enctyptedData } = req.body;
  
  const dataPacket = {
    evalID,
    motivoDescripcion,
  };
  
  try {
    await PoolvLife.query(FileUploadModel.IngresosMotivo, dataPacket);
    req.flash("success", "Se guardo motivo");
    res.redirect(`/evaluacionvLife/evaluacionView/${enctyptedData}`);
  } catch (e) {
    req.flash("message", "Algo salio mal !");
    res.redirect("back");
  }
};

This can also be deleted:

const DeleteMotivo = async (req, res) => {
  const { evalID } = req.body;
  
  try {
    await PoolvLife.query(FileUploadModel.DeleteMotivo, evalID);
    req.flash("success", "Motivo eliminado");
    res.redirect("back");
  } catch (e) {
    req.flash("message", "Algo salio mal !");
    res.redirect("back");
  }
};

File Format Requirements

Accepted Format

Currently, the system generates .pdf extensions for all uploads. Ensure your file upload form restricts to PDF format:

<input type="file" name="file" accept=".pdf" required>

File Size Best Practices

Document Type	Recommended Size	Max Size
Identification (INE)	500KB - 2MB	20MB
Birth Certificate	500KB - 2MB	20MB
Proof of Address	200KB - 1MB	20MB
Educational Docs	1MB - 5MB	20MB
Multi-page Documents	2MB - 10MB	20MB

While the hard limit is 20MB, encourage users to optimize PDFs before upload for better performance and storage efficiency.

Document Retrieval

Documents are retrieved for display in the evaluation view:

const [GetActaPerma] = await PoolvLife.query(
  EvaluationvLifeModel.GetActaPerma,
  decryptedData
);

res.render("evaluationvLifeViews/evaluationView", {
  ActaPerma: GetActaPerma[0],
  // Contains filename for display/download
});

Document Access URLs

Uploaded documents are publicly accessible:

http://localhost:4001/uploads/a8f5e3c2-6d4b-4a1c-9e8f-2b5c7d9e1f3a25.pdf

The public directory is served by Express:

app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, "public")));

All uploaded documents are publicly accessible via direct URL. For production, consider implementing:

Authentication checks before serving files
Private storage with signed URLs
Access logging and monitoring

Error Handling

Common Upload Errors

File Too Large

req.flash('message', 'El archivo excede los 20MB');

Invalid File Type Handled by frontend file input restrictions

Storage Failure

req.flash("message", "Algo salio mal !");

Upload Validation

Consider adding additional validation:

// Example validation (not in current implementation)
const validateUpload = (file) => {
  if (!file) {
    throw new Error('No file provided');
  }
  if (file.mimetype !== 'application/pdf') {
    throw new Error('Only PDF files are allowed');
  }
  if (file.size > 20000000) {
    throw new Error('File size exceeds 20MB limit');
  }
  return true;
};

Security Considerations

Important Security Measures for Production:

File Type Validation: Verify MIME type on server-side
Virus Scanning: Integrate antivirus scanning for uploads
Access Control: Restrict document access to authorized users
File Size Monitoring: Monitor total storage usage
Content Security: Validate PDF content is not malicious
Private Storage: Move uploads outside public directory
Encrypted Storage: Consider encrypting files at rest

FileUploadController.js (src/controllers/FileUploadController.js:1) - Upload handling logic
app.js (src/app.js:64) - Multer configuration
EvaluationvLifeController.js (src/controllers/EvaluationvLifeController.js:99) - Document validation

Get Started

Core Features

User Guides

System Configuration

Overview

Multer Configuration

Storage Setup

File Size Limit

Document Requirements by Evaluation Type

Permanencia (tipo_eval = 1)

Nuevo Ingreso (tipo_eval = 2)

Upload Process

File Upload Flow

Upload View Controller

Upload Handler

File Naming Convention

UUID-Based Naming

Storage Organization

Directory Structure

Database Storage

Document Validation

Required vs Optional

Completion Check

Deleting Uploaded Documents

Special Handling: Motivo de Ingreso

File Format Requirements

Accepted Format

File Size Best Practices

Document Retrieval

Document Access URLs

Error Handling

Common Upload Errors

Upload Validation

Security Considerations

Next Steps

Expediente Generation

Evaluation Types

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Features

User Guides

System Configuration

​Overview

​Multer Configuration

​Storage Setup

​File Size Limit

​Document Requirements by Evaluation Type

​Permanencia (tipo_eval = 1)

​Nuevo Ingreso (tipo_eval = 2)

​Upload Process

​File Upload Flow

​Upload View Controller

​Upload Handler

​File Naming Convention

​UUID-Based Naming

​Storage Organization

​Directory Structure

​Database Storage

​Document Validation

​Required vs Optional

​Completion Check

​Deleting Uploaded Documents

​Special Handling: Motivo de Ingreso

​File Format Requirements

​Accepted Format

​File Size Best Practices

​Document Retrieval

​Document Access URLs

​Error Handling

​Common Upload Errors

​Upload Validation

​Security Considerations

​Related Files

​Next Steps

Expediente Generation

Evaluation Types

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Multer Configuration

Storage Setup

File Size Limit

Document Requirements by Evaluation Type

Permanencia (tipo_eval = 1)

Nuevo Ingreso (tipo_eval = 2)

Upload Process

File Upload Flow

Upload View Controller

Upload Handler

File Naming Convention

UUID-Based Naming

Storage Organization

Directory Structure

Database Storage

Document Validation

Required vs Optional

Completion Check

Deleting Uploaded Documents

Special Handling: Motivo de Ingreso

File Format Requirements

Accepted Format

File Size Best Practices

Document Retrieval

Document Access URLs

Error Handling

Common Upload Errors

Upload Validation

Security Considerations

Related Files

Next Steps