how do I store a binary file in a MySql database, as a string?

[lawrence k]

I'm a little weak on my basic I/O. Help me out please.

Is it right to say that I can just open any file with file(), get it as
a string, and then store in a MySql database, in, say, a MediumText
field? I realize that MySql supports binary fields, but my current
MySql schema does not have any binary fields, and I'm wondering if I
can store the file without changing my current schema.

Can I recreate the file later, if I wish, just be grabbing the string
out of the database and writing it to disk? (on a Linux system)

[Jerry Stuckle]

Re: how do I store a binary file in a MySql database, as a string?

lawrence k wrote:[color=blue]
> I'm a little weak on my basic I/O. Help me out please.
>
> Is it right to say that I can just open any file with file(), get it as
> a string, and then store in a MySql database, in, say, a MediumText
> field? I realize that MySql supports binary fields, but my current
> MySql schema does not have any binary fields, and I'm wondering if I
> can store the file without changing my current schema.
>
> Can I recreate the file later, if I wish, just be grabbing the string
> out of the database and writing it to disk? (on a Linux system)
>[/color]

Yes.

--
=============== ===
Remove the "x" from my email address
Jerry Stuckle
JDS Computer Training Corp.
jstucklex@attgl obal.net
=============== ===

[Henrik Hansen]

Re: how do I store a binary file in a MySql database, as a string?

"lawrence k" <lkrubner@geoci ties.com> writes:
[color=blue]
> I'm a little weak on my basic I/O. Help me out please.
>
> Is it right to say that I can just open any file with file(), get it as
> a string, and then store in a MySql database, in, say, a MediumText
> field? I realize that MySql supports binary fields, but my current
> MySql schema does not have any binary fields, and I'm wondering if I
> can store the file without changing my current schema.
>
> Can I recreate the file later, if I wish, just be grabbing the string
> out of the database and writing it to disk? (on a Linux system)[/color]

AFAIK you need to use blob fields as your data is binary (or is it,
what kind of files do you want to open?), if you store
it in a normal text field it can be corrupted. But else you are right,
you just take the ourput from the field and put in a file or output to
the browser with a header infront.


--
Henrik Hansen

[Alan Little]

Re: how do I store a binary file in a MySql database, as a string?

Carved in mystic runes upon the very living rock, the last words of
Henrik Hansen of comp.lang.php make plain:
[color=blue]
> "lawrence k" <lkrubner@geoci ties.com> writes:
>[color=green]
>> Is it right to say that I can just open any file with file(), get it
>> as a string, and then store in a MySql database, in, say, a
>> MediumText field? I realize that MySql supports binary fields, but my
>> current MySql schema does not have any binary fields, and I'm
>> wondering if I can store the file without changing my current schema.[/color]
>
> AFAIK you need to use blob fields as your data is binary (or is it,
> what kind of files do you want to open?), if you store
> it in a normal text field it can be corrupted. But else you are right,
> you just take the ourput from the field and put in a file or output to
> the browser with a header infront.[/color]

You could base64_encode() it first.

--
Alan Little
Phorm PHP Form Processor

http://www.phorm.com/

[Henrik Hansen]

Re: how do I store a binary file in a MySql database, as a string?

Alan Little <alan@n-o-s-p-a-m-phorm.com> writes:
[color=blue]
> Carved in mystic runes upon the very living rock, the last words of
> Henrik Hansen of comp.lang.php make plain:
>[color=green]
>> "lawrence k" <lkrubner@geoci ties.com> writes:
>>[color=darkred]
>>> Is it right to say that I can just open any file with file(), get it
>>> as a string, and then store in a MySql database, in, say, a
>>> MediumText field? I realize that MySql supports binary fields, but my
>>> current MySql schema does not have any binary fields, and I'm
>>> wondering if I can store the file without changing my current schema.[/color]
>>
>> AFAIK you need to use blob fields as your data is binary (or is it,
>> what kind of files do you want to open?), if you store
>> it in a normal text field it can be corrupted. But else you are right,
>> you just take the ourput from the field and put in a file or output to
>> the browser with a header infront.[/color]
>
> You could base64_encode() it first.[/color]

But then you have to keep in mind the content will take up much more
space.

Just tested, a 91959 bytes files will become 122612 bytes, that will end up
being alot if you have lots of files..

But it's a working solution if you cant convert to a BLOB (can't see
why not though).

--
Henrik Hansen

[lawrence k]

Re: how do I store a binary file in a MySql database, as a string?


Alan Little wrote:[color=blue]
> Carved in mystic runes upon the very living rock, the last words of
> Henrik Hansen of comp.lang.php make plain:
>[color=green]
> > "lawrence k" <lkrubner@geoci ties.com> writes:
> >[color=darkred]
> >> Is it right to say that I can just open any file with file(), get it
> >> as a string, and then store in a MySql database, in, say, a
> >> MediumText field? I realize that MySql supports binary fields, but my
> >> current MySql schema does not have any binary fields, and I'm
> >> wondering if I can store the file without changing my current schema.[/color]
> >
> > AFAIK you need to use blob fields as your data is binary (or is it,
> > what kind of files do you want to open?), if you store
> > it in a normal text field it can be corrupted. But else you are right,
> > you just take the ourput from the field and put in a file or output to
> > the browser with a header infront.[/color]
>
> You could base64_encode() it first.[/color]

Thanks much to the both of you. I've MP3s to store. I will encode them
with base64_encode() and store them in a mediumtext field. We will see
how this goes.