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Using CLongBinary for BLOBs

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4.96/5 (15 votes)
30 Nov 19991 min read 212.2K   2.5K   52   46
  • Download demo project - 29 Kb
  • Sample Image - UsingBlob.gif

    At times, storing images and other types of documents like word document, or excel spread sheet or even a compressed zip file in the database is inevitable. MFC provides a supporting class to handle these BLOBs called CLongBinary. It is just a wrapper around the HGLOBAL of WIN32. But how do you use it? The wizard creates a member variable of type CLongBinary in your record set object and also creates the corresponding RFX routine (RFX_LongBinary).

    Okay, does it mean that you can use this member just like any other variable? No, That's where this document comes in handy. For regular data types, all you have to is create an instance of the recordset object, assign the values and call Update. But for BLOBs, you have to do something special. For inserting BLOBs, you have to remember 3 points.

    1. Allocate and lock the storage buffer using GlobalAlloc() and GlobalLock() calls
    2. Prepare the recordset for blob operation using SetFieldDirty() and SetFieldNull() calls
    3. Unlock the storage buffer

    By default, the destructor of the CLongBinary will delete the buffer using GlobalFree() call. So you don't have to bother about freeing the memory. Reading from the database is pretty simple. All you have to do is lock the buffer.

    Following code snippet shows how to do this in the actual code:

    // Store the Image to database table
    // 
    try
    {
        dbImages.Open();
        dbImages.AddNew();
    
        CFile	fileImage;
        CFileStatus	fileStatus;
    
        fileImage.Open("c:\\winnt\\winnt256.bmp", CFile::modeRead);
        fileImage.GetStatus(fileStatus);
    
        dbImages.m_BLOBName = fileImage.GetFileTitle();
        dbImages.m_BLOBImage.m_dwDataLength = fileStatus.m_size;
    
        HGLOBAL hGlobal		= GlobalAlloc(GPTR,fileStatus.m_size);
        dbImages.m_BLOBImage.m_hData = GlobalLock(hGlobal);
    
        fileImage.ReadHuge(dbImages.m_BLOBImage.m_hData,fileStatus.m_size);
    
        dbImages.SetFieldDirty(&dbImages.m_BLOBImage);
        dbImages.SetFieldNull(&dbImages.m_BLOBImage,FALSE);
        dbImages.Update();
    
        GlobalUnlock(hGlobal);
    
        dbImages.Close();
    
        pList->InsertItem(0,fileImage.GetFileTitle());
    }
    catch(CException* pE)
    {
        pE->ReportError();
        pE->Delete();
        return;
    }

     

    // To restore image from db table
    CdbImages   dbImages(&theApp.m_DB);
    CString     strFileName = pList->GetItemText(nIndex,0);
    dbImages.m_strFilter.Format("BLOBName = '%s'",strFileName);
    try
    {
        dbImages.Open();
        if  (dbImages.IsEOF())
            AfxMessageBox("Unable to get image from db");
        else
        {
            char    tmpPath[_MAX_PATH+1];
            GetTempPath(_MAX_PATH,tmpPath);
    
            strFileName.Insert(0,tmpPath);
            
            CFile	outFile(strFileName,CFile::modeCreate|CFile::modeWrite);
            LPSTR	buffer = (LPSTR)GlobalLock(dbImages.m_BLOBImage.m_hData);
            outFile.WriteHuge(buffer,dbImages.m_BLOBImage.m_dwDataLength);
            GlobalUnlock(dbImages.m_BLOBImage.m_hData);
            outFile.Close();
    
            theApp.OpenDocumentFile(strFileName);
        }
    
        dbImages.Close();
    
    }
    catch(CException* pE)
    {
        pE->ReportError();
        pE->Delete();
        return;
    }

    The demo project uses an Access database to store the images. This project also demonstrates the following:

    • DSN - less Connection to MS Access database
    • Dialog Bars
    • Image Display in CScrollView

    The images are displayed using the simplest technique of using BitBlt() call. It does not use any Palettes because it is beyond the scope of this article.

    License

    This article has no explicit license attached to it but may contain usage terms in the article text or the download files themselves. If in doubt please contact the author via the discussion board below.

    A list of licenses authors might use can be found here


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    Comments and Discussions

     
    GeneralMy vote of 5 Pin
    Member 41790757-Aug-11 10:56
    Member 41790757-Aug-11 10:56 
    QuestiondbImages.Open() is taking 100% CPU usage?? Pin
    Gokulnath00715-Jul-11 1:15
    Gokulnath00715-Jul-11 1:15 
    QuestionDynamic Table name Pin
    Member 799544422-Jun-11 18:05
    Member 799544422-Jun-11 18:05 
    GeneralProblem with Recordset.Open(CRecordset::snapshot,_T("SELECT * FROM TEST")) function Pin
    navneet.professional5-May-10 0:50
    navneet.professional5-May-10 0:50 
    Generalerror C2039: 'WriteHuge' : is not a member of 'CFile' g:\mainfrm.cpp and Error and error C2039: 'ReadHuge' : is not a member of 'CFile' g:\mainfrm.cpp 205 Pin
    MrKyaw31-Jul-08 17:49
    MrKyaw31-Jul-08 17:49 
    GeneralRe: error C2039: 'WriteHuge' : is not a member of 'CFile' g:\mainfrm.cpp and Error and error C2039: 'ReadHuge' : is not a member of 'CFile' g:\mainfrm.cpp 205 Pin
    Rolando Cruz26-Sep-08 2:04
    Rolando Cruz26-Sep-08 2:04 
    GeneralReally Good Pin
    MANISH RASTOGI2-Jul-08 23:48
    MANISH RASTOGI2-Jul-08 23:48 
    Generalsome question about insert images,please tell me! Pin
    freesky32325-Jan-07 3:03
    freesky32325-Jan-07 3:03 
    Questionnew record Pin
    ali212121212121219-May-06 4:36
    ali212121212121219-May-06 4:36 
    Questionhow to insert image to SQL server Pin
    An Phung Nguyen12-Nov-05 20:18
    An Phung Nguyen12-Nov-05 20:18 
    GeneralBLOB Pin
    Member 199788420-Jun-05 1:04
    Member 199788420-Jun-05 1:04 
    GeneralAn annotation Pin
    buho_usp7-Jun-05 4:17
    buho_usp7-Jun-05 4:17 
    GeneralODBC Crash with CLongBinary Pin
    Anonymous21-Oct-04 22:53
    Anonymous21-Oct-04 22:53 
    GeneralODBC Crash with CLongBinary Pin
    Anonymous21-Oct-04 22:34
    Anonymous21-Oct-04 22:34 
    Generaldo the method work when considering oracle Pin
    Member 60708421-Apr-04 21:28
    Member 60708421-Apr-04 21:28 
    GeneralCByteArray Pin
    mjwilliamson16-Mar-04 1:16
    mjwilliamson16-Mar-04 1:16 
    GeneralExcel files Pin
    Al Findlay17-Feb-04 7:12
    Al Findlay17-Feb-04 7:12 
    GeneralError: Data truncated Pin
    mef5263-Jul-03 6:06
    mef5263-Jul-03 6:06 
    GeneralRe: Error: Data truncated Pin
    wancol25-Aug-03 21:59
    wancol25-Aug-03 21:59 
    Generalproblem when call update() Pin
    CS4291-Jul-03 21:24
    CS4291-Jul-03 21:24 
    QuestionCan u give an example with ADO about how to save a CLongBinary into database? Pin
    ztliu014-Jun-03 22:22
    ztliu014-Jun-03 22:22 
    GeneralStore Images with RecordsetPtr Pin
    jsundjsund7-Apr-03 21:57
    jsundjsund7-Apr-03 21:57 
    GeneralOut of memory error with Sybase Pin
    Stan Harris20-Feb-03 16:10
    Stan Harris20-Feb-03 16:10 
    GeneralRe: Out of memory error with Sybase Pin
    Wes Jones28-Jul-06 8:06
    Wes Jones28-Jul-06 8:06 
    QuestionHow to Delete or Modify a BLOB? Pin
    tattalevieuxgrincheux7-Jan-03 15:48
    tattalevieuxgrincheux7-Jan-03 15:48 

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