Blobs in SQL Server

[Connie]

We have a blob in one table that is storing pdf files. I need to
write a select query that will grab that column and write those *.pdf
files out to a location on my hard drive. Does anyone know how that
can be done? All suggestions would be greatly appreciated....

[Erland Sommarskog]

Re: Blobs in SQL Server

Connie (csawyer@rwbair d.com) writes:

We have a blob in one table that is storing pdf files. I need to
write a select query that will grab that column and write those *.pdf
files out to a location on my hard drive. Does anyone know how that
can be done? All suggestions would be greatly appreciated....

I have a very quick sketch for this on
http://www.sommarskog.se/blobload.txt.


--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel@sommarsk og.se

Books Online for SQL Server 2005 at

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/downloads/books.mspx

Books Online for SQL Server 2000 at

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/previousversions/books.mspx

[Connie]

Re: Blobs in SQL Server

On Feb 15, 4:26 pm, Erland Sommarskog <esq...@sommars kog.sewrote:

Connie (csaw...@rwbair d.com) writes:

We have a blob in one table that is storing pdf files. I need to
write a select query that will grab that column and write those *.pdf
files out to a location on my hard drive. Does anyone know how that
can be done? All suggestions would be greatly appreciated....

>
I have a very quick sketch for this onhttp://www.sommarskog. se/blobload.txt.
>
--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esq...@sommarsk og.se
>
Books Online for SQL Server 2005 athttp://www.microsoft.c om/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/downloads/books...
Books Online for SQL Server 2000 athttp://www.microsoft.c om/sql/prodinfo/previousversion s/books.mspx

Here is some good information that I found in my search to complete
the above task, I am posting as this may help others working with
blobs:
In this article I want to show, how you can copy a single text or
image value into or out of SQL Server with textcopy.exe utility. You
can find this utility in the directory containing the standard SQL
Server EXE files (C:\Mssql\Binn by default for SQL Server 6.5 and C:
\Mssql7\Binn by default for SQL Server 7.0).

The Textcopy utility is not described in SQL Server Books Online, but
you can get its description by typing textcopy /? from the command
prompt. This is the description:

Copies a single text or image value into or out of SQL Server. The
value
is a specified text or image 'column' of a single row (specified by
the
"where clause") of the specified 'table'.

If the direction is IN (/I) then the data from the specified 'file' is
copied into SQL Server, replacing the existing text or image value. If
the
direction is OUT (/O) then the text or image value is copied from
SQL Server into the specified 'file', replacing any existing file.

TEXTCOPY [/S [sqlserver]] [/U [login]] [/P [password]]
[/D [database]] [/T table] [/C column] [/W"where clause"]
[/F file] [{/I | /O}] [/K chunksize] [/Z] [/?]

/S sqlserver The SQL Server to connect to. If 'sqlserver' is
not
specified, the local SQL Server is used.
/U login The login to connect with. If 'login' is not
specified,
a trusted connection will be used.
/P password The password for 'login'. If 'password' is not
specified, a NULL password will be used.
/D database The database that contains the table with the
text or
image data. If 'database' is not specified, the
default
database of 'login' is used.
/T table The table that contains the text or image value.
/C column The text or image column of 'table'.
/W "where clause" A complete where clause (including the WHERE
keyword)
that specifies a single row of 'table'.
/F file The file name.
/I Copy text or image value into SQL Server from
'file'.
/O Copy text or image value out of SQL Server into
'file'.
/K chunksize Size of the data transfer buffer in bytes.
Minimum
value is 1024 bytes, default value is 4096 bytes.
/Z Display debug information while running.
/? Display this usage information and exit.

You will be prompted for any required options you did not specify.




You can use the following stored procedure to simplify the using of
textcopy utility:

CREATE PROCEDURE sp_textcopy (
@srvname varchar (30),
@login varchar (30),
@password varchar (30),
@dbname varchar (30),
@tbname varchar (30),
@colname varchar (30),
@filename varchar (30),
@whereclause varchar (40),
@direction char(1))
AS
DECLARE @exec_str varchar (255)
SELECT @exec_str =
'textcopy /S ' + @srvname +
' /U ' + @login +
' /P ' + @password +
' /D ' + @dbname +
' /T ' + @tbname +
' /C ' + @colname +
' /W "' + @whereclause +
'" /F ' + @filename +
' /' + @direction
EXEC master..xp_cmds hell @exec_str




This is the example to copy image into SQL Server database pubs, table
pub_info, column name logo from picture.bmp file where pub_id='0736':

sp_textcopy @srvname = 'ServerName',
@login = 'Login',
@password = 'Password',
@dbname = 'pubs',
@tbname = 'pub_info',
@colname = 'logo',
@filename = 'c:\picture.bmp ',
@whereclause = " WHERE pub_id='0736' ",
@direction = 'I'