newbie trying to insert a pic into mysql database

Swankysuzanne

Hello. I am a newbie so bare with me please. I'm making a site where users have a profile page. I want them to be able to upload a pic of themselves to their profile. I am trying to store the pic in a "blob" file in mysql. I have a script that I am able to browse the files of pics but I can't seem to get the insert statement to work to insert the file into the database so I can call it up later.. Here's what I have without the insert statement. Any ideas?

<formname="form1" method="post" action="http://mysite.com/picture.php" enctype="multipart/formdata">
<input type="hidden" name="max_file_size" value="1000">
<input type="file" name="imagefile">
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit">

if(isset($submit) && $submit=="submit")

{
if($files['imagefile']['type']=="image/jpg")
{
copy($files['imagefile']['tmp_name'],"files/".$_files['imagefile']['name'])
or die("Could not copy");

echo"";
echo "Name: ".$files['imagefile']['name']."";
echo "Size: ".$files['imagefile']['size']."";
echo "Type: " .$_files['imagefile']['type']."";
echo "Copy done....";
}

else{
echo"";
echo "Could Not Copy, Wrong Filetype(".$_files['imagefile']['name'].")";
}
}

theeper

It's not a good idea to put your images in a DB, leave them in the file system where they belong. If you must do it this way, then make sure you can upload first, then make sure your copy function works properly.

If the image is copied to the right place, but not inserted into the DB properly, you may need to add slashes to the binary data to escape the bad characters. I would use something like this before doing the INSERT query...

$image = $_files['imagefile']['name'];
$image = addslashes(fread(fopen($image, "r"), filesize($image)));

Swankysuzanne

thankyou for getting back to me with your help. I'm new to this and a little confused. Why isn't it a good idea to insert the images into the database? Doesn't saving the images in a file instead of the database slow things up if too many people are saving images. Thanks again for your help.

theeper

Actually, when you load an image into the DB, you must first copy the image to the server anyway. So this certainly would add more overhead.

The real problem when you load the images into a BLOB field is the the overhead of making a query to retrieve the data and the possibility that the DB may crash and you will lose all your image data. It is much faster to read an image from the filesystem.

It is better to load the URL into the DB and then pull it from the DB to create your image link.

Leave your images where they belong, in the filesystem.

Sphynx

Personally I use BLOB fields to store images for certain uses. For instance, if you are posting images that are commonly named the same thing, such as screenshots, then storing to the DB, and relating that blob to a certain record removes any worry that a duplicate filename would be encountered by a user.

This reduces my workload by not having to cull out duplicates, not having to moderate the actual names of images (since nobody sees the actual filename of a blob), and not having to remember where in the world all my images are, and if they are currently in use or are 'old news'.

Most sites I'm guessing don't get near enough traffic and/or use to make a significant hit in performance when accessing images as BLOBS.

There is a great article right here onn PHPBuilder about storing images in the DB: http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/florian19991014.php3?page=1

Swankysuzanne

Thanks so much!!

bretticus

This reduces my workload by not having to cull out duplicates, not having to moderate the actual names of images (since nobody sees the actual filename of a blob), and not having to remember where in the world all my images are, and if they are currently in use or are 'old news'.

I would just rename the image using copy() once it's uploaded with a name descriptive of the new image record I just created...keeping the images "where they belong, in the filesystem" 😃

Sphynx

LOL... I hear ya 🙂 But hey... I lub databases! :p

LordRogaine

I appreciate the help. Why is it when I call up the image from the database I get binary code instead of the pic? Any ideas?

theeper

You probably need to use a header like this. Make sure there
is no blank lines before the header though.

header("Content-type: image/pjpeg");
echo $binary_data;