This information is saved in Drupal's variables table. Use the variable_get
function to get this information, passing in the name of the correct variable:
- Public Filesystem Location:
variable_get('file_public_path', conf_path() . '/files');
- Private Filesystem Location:
variable_get('file_private_path');
If you want the temporary upload directory use variable_get('file_temporary_path');
If you want to determine the system specific upload directory, regardless of the actual site configuration use the file_directory_temp
function.
variable_get('file_public_path', conf_path() . '/files');
will pull the default path for you in case it has not been modified or explicitly set by the site administrator.