multiple content-type PHP MySQL recall

[manaila]

This is driving me batty. :bemused:

To make a long story short, I have a database table with the following fields:

ID (called $entry0
Date (called $entry_date)
Text1 (called $entry1)
Text2 (called $entry2)
Text3 (called $entry3)
Image (called $entry4)
Caption (called $entry5)

I can get the image to upload no problem as a BLOB. I can't, however, seem to get it to display properly in my PHP script. I think the problem is that I have to have different header types. To make matters worse, I'm not necessarily displaying the fields in order. I want them to echo in the following order:

echo "<p>File Date: $entry_date </p>";
echo "<h1 align=\"left\" class=\"style1\">$entry1 </h1>";
echo "<p align=\"right\">$entry2 </p>";
echo "<img src=$entry4>";
echo "<p align=\"left\"> $entry5 </p>";
echo "<p align=\"left\"> $entry3 </p>";

Everything works but the blasted image, which shows up as a broken link because the binary isn't being converted back into a jpg or a gif due to the difference in header content-types.

I can't seem to make the header replace option work for me. Is there a good way around this? I want to keep the images with in the database with their corresponding files, and they're not big so I don't care about how many times the db is getting hit.

Thanks so much in advance.

[dagon]

never store images in the db, store the file, and then the file name\path in the db

[manaila]

It's less than helpful to tell someone who has already addressed your objections not to do something they've already determined is the most appropriate application for their needs. If you don't know how to do something, leave it at that.

I have found a solution to my problem. My final code looks like this:

echo "<p>File Date: $entry_date </p>";
echo "<h1 align=\"left\" class=\"style1\">$entry1 </h1>";
echo "<p align=\"right\">$entry2 </p>";
    $entry4=base64_encode($entry4);
    print("<img src=\"data:image/jpg;base64,$entry4\" alt=\"\">");
echo "<p align=\"left\"> $entry5 </p>";
echo "<p align=\"left\"> $entry3 </p>";

This works perfectly in Firefox. It doesn't work in Explorer. The solution there is to make a temporary file (and then delete the temporary file), for example:

$tempFile=“../images/randImgs/”.mt_rand();
file_put_contents($tempFile,$entry4,LOCK_EX|FILE_BINARY);
print(“<img src=\”$tempFile\” alt=\”$entry4\” />”);

For the nay-sayers, I'll tell you why it is better for my needs to put the image in a database and then pull it out in such a manor:

1. My images are all small (the biggest one so far is a mere 21.B K😎, Web-optimized and download quickly even on a slow internet connection with multiple database calls.

2. Since my images are stored in a record along with all the other information that is associated with the same record, if I no longer have an need for the whole record, I can delete that record and all the associated files, to include the image, in one fell swoop without risking orphaned links uglying up my site or orphaned image files taking up disk space.

3. Because my images and all the associated other text fields are in database form, I can restructure my Web site without having to manually update links, restructure the pages the content is being displayed on without altering the content, restructure the content without individually restructuring the page that's displaying it, and reformat the way the content is being displayed without having to manually update each record.

4. My images are attached to their corresponding records physically, making them much easier to track and organize, and since they are in a database instead of sitting around in a folder open to the general public, they are that much more secure.

5. If I decide at any given time that my database is getting too big or I simply don't want my archives to go past a certain date, it only takes one step to clear out my unwanted files. Until then, I pay for large bandwidth Web hosting, I might as well use it.

6. With a form code, I can upload all my files where they need to go at one time in one place, and with my query code for the displaying page, my entire content updating process becomes automated and voila! I have a no-fuss no-muss very professional looking Web page. That's the beauty of the PHP-database combination. I have no idea why so many people try to keep that out of the hands of regular people. Sure, it's a coding language, but it's not so complex a coding language that you should have to go through four years of specialized schooling to do common tasks.

And that's why, for my application, putting my images in the database directly is better than cluttering up my site structure with thousands of detached pictures and putting them in a folder on the server and putting a link into the database which will cause me several extra steps upfront and several extra steps on the back-end later when the picture gets lost and makes a broken link or the record gets deleted and the picture gets orphaned.

[manaila]

Here's what my final code looks like.

echo "<p>File Date: $entry_date </p>";
echo "<h1 align=\"left\" class=\"style1\">$entry1 </h1>";
echo "<p align=\"right\">$entry2 </p>";

$numberOfAttempts=0; // Let's not loop forever
$tempFile="../images/tempImgs/".mt_rand().".jpg";
while((!file_put_contents($tempFile,$entry4,LOCK_EX|FILE_BINARY))&&($numberOfAttempts<3))
    $numberOfAttempts++;
print("<img src=\"$tempFile\" alt=\"$entry_date\">");


//$entry4=base64_encode($entry4); THIS DOESN'T WORK ON IE
//print("<img src=\"data:image/jpg;base64,$entry4\" alt=\"\">");

echo "<p align=\"left\"> $entry5 </p>";
echo "<p align=\"left\"> $entry3 </p>";

And life is good again.

Just have to set up a cronjob to empty out that temporary folder fairly often to keep if from getting unwieldy.

Now my image displays without multiple header conflicts, I can rearrange the order I want my database fields to appear however I like, it is cross-browser friendly, and when I then insert the php file that contains this into my page template, then my CSS will pick up my tags and apply my style sheets. I have automation!