Store files in MySQL database from HTML form

Question

I've got the following HTML form. As you can see it's saving a file.

<form enctype="multipart/form-data" action="welcome.php" method="post
"onsubmit="return validateFormOnSubmit(this)"> 
 <b>Name</b><br/> <input type="text" name="fname" /> 
 <br/>
 <b>Description</b><br/> <TEXTAREA NAME="description" COLS=40
 ROWS=6></TEXTAREA><br/><br/> <input type="hidden" name="MAX_FILE_SIZE" value="100000"/> 

<b>Upload Picture</b><br/> <input name="uploadedfile" type="file" /><br /> 
 <b>Latitude</b><br/><INPUT name="lat" id ="lat" /><br/> 
 <b>Longitude</b><br/><INPUT     name="lng" id ="lng" /><br/> <input type="submit" />

This file is being processed like so...

 $target_path = "uploads/";

 $target_path = $target_path . basename( $_FILES['uploadedfile']['name']);

The rest of the information is being stored in a SQL database. I'd like to store the file uploaded in that database. How would I go about doing this via the php file the information get's sent to? I'm inserting it like..

   $query = "INSERT INTO <TABLE> (name, message, lat, lng, type)VALUES ('".$title."', '".$des."', '".$lati."', '".$long."', '".$type."')";
   $q=mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error());

I'm not good enough with MySQL to give a detailed response, so I'm just gonna say: BLOBS! dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.0/en/blob.html — FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
– FrustratedWithFormsDesigner, Commented Jul 21, 2010 at 14:07

Pang · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-25 07:07:07Z

5

If you definitely want to insert your HTML file in your MySQL DB, there are two ways:

Use the BLOB type to store the file.
Convert your file into a string, as it is HTML, and store it in a TEXT field.

However, my recommendation would be to store files on the server filesystem, and not in the database.

edited Jul 25, 2016 at 7:07

Pang

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answered Jul 21, 2010 at 14:10

Guillaume Lebourgeois

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2 Comments

Luke Over a year ago

If he stores the file in a blob he is going to have to convert that string back into an image afterwards, (looking at his code the file has a label upload picture)

Guillaume Lebourgeois Over a year ago

My mistake, I thought he wanted to store the html file itself. You're absolutely right.

ahmetunal · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-21 14:10:19Z

3

You can do this in tow ways.

Copying the file into filesystem and saving its path in database

Storing the file as binary data in database.

$data = file_get_contents($_FILES['photo']['tmp_name']);
$data = mysql_real_escape_string($data);

and then save data in a field (you need to create that field as blob)

answered Jul 21, 2010 at 14:10

ahmetunal

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2 Comments

Skizit Over a year ago

How would I then extract that data e.g if it was a photo display it in HTML?

ahmetunal Over a year ago

You may create a file, after getting data from database, you need to write that data into the file. Or stackoverflow.com/questions/1330138/…

Blizz · Accepted Answer · 2010-07-21 14:09:27Z

2

You mean the contents of the uploaded file?

Pretty much like below:

// Obtain the file content (add error handling here...)
$contents = file_get_contents($_FILES['uploadedfile']['tmp_name']);
// Escape all special characters
$contents = mysql_real_escape_string($contents)
// Do the insert
$query = 'INSERT INTO <TABLE> (....) VALUES ("' . $contents . '")';
$q=mysql_query($query) or die(mysql_error());

Edit: marvin is right, its file_get_contents.

answered Jul 21, 2010 at 14:09

Blizz

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3 Comments

Blizz Over a year ago

The field in the table: if it is going to be HTML: a TEXT or LONGTEXT should be okay. I would advice to add checks everywhere: the length of the file, the contents, etc... file stuff always brings along inherent risks

Joe Mastey Over a year ago

As other commenters said, use a blob for this unless the file is guaranteed to be less than 255 chars long. TEXT might work too, depends on the file format.

Blizz Over a year ago

A blob and a text have the same maximum length IIRC. The difference is that a blob allows binary content. I adviced the regular TEXT type since it was indicated that it would be HTML.

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