Drupal 7 - Upload Image Programmatically

Question

I would like to upload an image in a custom module. The image must be permanently saved and renamed if needed. Later I want to be able to display the image somewhere on my form or wherever I want.

My current code:

function my_module_name_new_form()
{
 ....

$form['icon'] = array
(
    '#type' => 'file',
    '#title' => t('Icon'),
    '#description' => t('Click "Chose File" to select an image to upload.')
);

 ....
}

In the submit hook I have:

// Icon
$filename = $form_state['values']['icon'];
$dest = file_build_uri($filename); 
file_save_data('My data', $dest, FILE_EXISTS_RENAME); 

Nothing happens... I couldn't find any Drupal 7.x compatible modules either that somehow make life easier here.

Solution:

//----------------------------
// Icon
//----------------------------  
$dest_dir = file_default_scheme() . '://';// Note: file_directory_path() was removed in Drupal 7.x. // $dest_dir contains the destination directory for the file. 

$validators = array('file_validate_extensions' => array('jpg png gif'));

//Save file
if ($file = file_save_upload('icon', $validators, $dest_dir))
{
    $filename = $file->filename;        
    $file_content = file_get_contents($dest_dir.$filename); // Fatal error: Cannot access empty property in C:\xampp\htdocs\drupal\modules\custom\achievements\achievements.module on line 446
}
else
{
    form_set_error('icon', 'Could not upload file.');
}
// To display the image: // die('<IMG SRC="'.file_create_url($dest_dir.$filename).'"/>');
//----------------------------  

Solution 1

Try:

 $validators = array(
    'file_validate_extensions' => array('jpg png gif'),
  );
  //Save file
  if ($file = file_save_upload('icon', $validators, $your_file_destination)) {
    $file_content = file_get_contents($file->filepath);
  }
  else{
    form_set_error('icon', 'Could not upload file.');
  }

Solution 2

I had to do this recently. Here is what I ended up with. Which is to save an image to an image field without using a drupal form.

if(isset($_FILES['image'])){

    $node = node_load($nid);

    //Get the uploaded file from the temp directory.            
    $image = file_get_contents($_FILES['image']['tmp_name']);

    //Create the directory if it does not already exist, otherwise check the permissions
    $directory = 'public://my-image-folder';
    file_prepare_directory($directory, FILE_CREATE_DIRECTORY);

    //Saves a file to the specified destination and creates a database entry.
    $file = file_save_data($image, 'public://my-image-folder/'.$_FILES['image']['name'], FILE_EXISTS_RENAME);

    //Set the file status to permanent so it is not deleted in next cron run
    $file->status = FILE_STATUS_PERMANENT;
    file_save($file);

    //Now we have a saved file and an object for it, just need to add it to the node's image field.
    $node->field_my_image_field[$node->language][0] = (array)$file;

    node_save($node);
}