Downloading a .doc file from the database

MarYJ

Ok guys, here is my query....
I have managed to successfully upload doc files in a mysql table that i call personal_statement. The fields for this table are:
bin_data, filetype,filename and filesize...Now what i want to implement is a retrieval of this file either in a form of downloading it on the home pc and opening it locally to read it or some other kind of way that the data can be retrieved from inside.....I have something in mind in the form of a SELECT statement and then some kind of a link to download the actual file, but not sure how exactly to implement....Any ideas or examples could be really helpful.....
Thanks

MarYJ

This is what i have done so far....I only need some kind of download link for the filename, so that the file can be grabbed from the table itself.....??????But how to create it...???

$query="SELECT SID,filetype,filename,filesize FROM personal_statement WHERE SID=$sid";
$result=mysql_query($query);

echo '<h3>PERSONAL STATEMENT</h3>';
echo '<table border=1>'; //creates table with border 1
echo '<tr><td>College Identifier</td><td>Filetype</td><td>Filename</td>
<td>filesize</td></tr>';

while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)){//the same as mysql_fetch_row but i can use $row[fieldname] now instead of numbers

//prints all the actual records inside table row by row in one row
//prints all the actual records inside table row by row in one row
printf("<tr><td>%s</td><td>%s</td><td>%s</td><td>%s</td><td>%s</td></tr>",
$row["SID"],$row,$row["filetype"],$row["filename"],$row["filesize"]);

}//end

Frederick

If a person has WORD (.doc) on thier machine, then when they click the link, it will open in there browser or they can right click and select save as.

SELECT statement
while loop
echo "<a href=\"path/$row["filename"]."\">Download / View</a>";

MarYJ

I try to do it this way...But throws me with some kind of parse error that i cannot identify...Can this be implemented in my script like that or am i doing it completely wrong????

printf("<tr><td>%s</td><td>%s</td><td>%s</td><td>%s</td></tr>",
$row["SID"],$row["filetype"],echo"<a href=\"$row["filename"]."\">Download</a>",$row["filesize"]);

Frederick

Your problem is you are running echo's in a printf().

echo "<tr>\n"
. "<td>".$row["SID"]."</td>\n"
. "<td>".$row["filetype"]."</td>\n"
. "<td><a href=\"".$row["filename"]."\">Download</a></td>\n"
. "<td>".$row["filesize"]."</td>\n"
. "</tr>\n";

PhiSYS

If the document is into the BLOB bin_data, you should create a PHP document just for its output (download.php):

<?php
// We'll send a Word Doc
header("Content-type: application/msword");
header("Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary");
header("Content-Description: File Transfer");

// GET THE DATA (YOU MAY $_GET['id'])

header("Content-Length: ".$row['filesize']);// The Following line is just for downloading
header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=" . $row['filename']);

// OUTPUT THE DATA
echo $row['bin_data'];

Check the HEADER Function manual

Then build a link to this php

echo "<a href=\"download.php?id=". $row['SID'] ."\">Download " . $row['filename'] . "</a>";

Hope it helps!

PhiSYS

Anyway

Originally posted by AstroTeg
Outside of the DB is the best and fastest. Let the file system do what it does best - serving files (plus it does cache management to help serve files faster). Databases are good at digging out information (like, "find all people who's first name is 'Rob'"). Will you be querying your collection of images like this? No. You will probably associate an image to a record, and to do that, just store the image name (you might store the path too, but if the path changes, it would really suck to have to figure out how to change the path in all those rows of data).

You can include a config.inc.php which defines paths and store just the filename (optionally some info) in the db

define("DIR_BASE", "./");
define("DIR_DOCS", "docs/");

// BUILD THE FULL PATH TO FILE
$img_full_path = DIR_BASE . DIR_DOCS . $row['filename'];