MrByG — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 20:11:39 +0000

My only problem at this point is that I have no idea as to how to create these databases. I have a basic understanding... I can make tables. ie.

database name MY PET CATS
Fields NAME, SEX, AGE, PIC (this is where I would want to put the image)

But as far as having it work on the server... that is another story.

Mark Hensler — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 19:57:00 +0000

For the other option, the images would be saved somewhere in your web path. Then, in your database, simply store the URL to the images. When you want to display a certain image, you query for the image's URL, and print it in tags.

MrByG — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 18:35:18 +0000

Quote: Originally posted by mairving
As a general rule, I think that it is a waste to store images in the database. Storing the image name is usually a better option.

I think that I can imagine how that is done but that does not mean that I am right.

Could you please give me an idea of what the structure of a database like you mentioned would look like?

MARK: Thanks for the links...

Mark Hensler — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 17:09:08 +0000

I agree. I only know how to do it because I inherited a project where the images were already in a DB.

mairving — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 13:04:08 +0000

As a general rule, I think that it is a waste to store images in the database. Storing the image name is usually a better option.

Mark Hensler — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 07:59:58 +0000

Wow, it's hard to find tutorials... Alright, I haven't read these, but they seem to be close enough to mention.

Binary Data + MySQL + PHP:
http://www.phpbuilder.com/columns/florian19991014.php3

Simple Form-Based Image Upload:
http://www.phpfreaks.com/tutorials/36/0.php

Most everything I found used PHP as the language of choice. Not very surprising. I did find small snippets of C/C++, and one small snippet of Java. Nothing on ASP (for obvious reasons).

If you have any specific questions, feel free to post in our Server-Side Scripting forum.

Mark Hensler — Wed, 20 Nov 2002 07:44:45 +0000

I don't know of any tutorials for mySQL. I've just learned from reading docs, and (mainly) trial and error.

In response to your question of images kept within a database, you'll want to use a BLOB datatype. The BLOB datatype can store up to 64KB. If your images are larger, you can use a MEDIUMBLOB, which can hold up to 16MB.

Storage is the easy part. The real trick is getting the images from the user (I'm guessing via an HTML form), and into the database. Printing the images from the database isn't as big of a chore.

Lemme see if I can find a tutorial somewheres....