12 Replies Latest reply: Mar 31, 2012 3:01 PM by -==cfSearching==-

BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

Glowball Mar 30, 2012 5:45 PM

Hi all, I'm using CF8 and storing images in Oracle as BLOB datatypes. I am not able to use CF to write files to the file server. I have about 50 large images already stored that need to have thumbnails made of them and stored in another field in each record. So, I need to do this:

Pull the BLOB out of the database.
Make it a CF image.
Resize the image.
Make the new image a BLOB.
Put the new BLOB in the database.

The issue I'm having is that when an image starts out as a BLOB it doesn't seem to know the file type, so when I try to do step 5, above, I get "Verify your inputs. The source file should contain an extension,so that ColdFusion can determine the image format." It seems that if I start with an actual file in step 1 it works, but not if it's binary to start. This is my basic code edited for clarity.

UPDATE images

SET file_binary_thumbnail = #ImageGetBlob(thisImage)#

WHERE image_id = #get.image_id#

</cfquery>

Any idea how to get this to work? Thanks, everyone!

1. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

Owain North Mar 30, 2012 5:48 PM (in response to Glowball)

Definitely use cfqueryparams in your update statement, solves so many issues with datatypes.
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2. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

Glowball Mar 30, 2012 5:52 PM (in response to Owain North)

I edited the code for clarity, it actually looks quite different than that. I cut out all of the excess so it would be easier to focus on what I was trying to do.
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3. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

-==cfSearching==- Mar 30, 2012 9:22 PM (in response to Glowball)

It seems that if I start with an actual file in step 1 it works, but not if it's binary to start.

Looks like that is a known issue. There is an undocumented work-around suggested in the comments here

ie Using imageObject.getImageBytes("jpg")

Though you should definitely use cfqueryparam in the actual query.
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4. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

Glowball Mar 30, 2012 11:32 PM (in response to -==cfSearching==-)

Thanks, cfSearching, that was a helpful link. It's always good to see I'm not the only one running into an issue. FYI, I've been a CF developer for eleven years and I wouldn't dare to use a query like I posted. But I wanted to get everyone's opinion on the image issue instead of having people focus on the mechanics of putting data into a database. I'm using cfqueryparam along with a ColdBox framework and it all works well, but it's not relative to this particular discussion. I wanted to simplify things by showing what I was doing in the most basic manner.
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5. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

-==cfSearching==- Mar 31, 2012 11:53 AM (in response to Glowball)

.. I wanted to simplify things by showing what I was doing in the most basic manner.

Yep, that makes complete sense. I always mention cfqueryparam when I do not know the background of the person asking the question. Feel free to note it was omitted for clarity next time, to stave off future "helpful" hints ;-)

-Leigh
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6. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

BKBK Mar 31, 2012 12:07 PM (in response to Glowball)

Glowball wrote:

<cfset thisImage = ImageNew(get.file_binary)>

It could be that imageNew() expects an image as parameter, and not on a binary. What happens when you first convert from binary to image, like this?

<cfset imageAsBase64String = binaryEncode(get.file_binary, "base64")>
<cfset thisImage = imageReadBase64(imageAsBase64String)>
<cfset ImageResize(thisImage, "500", "", "mediumQuality")>
...
etc.
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7. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

-==cfSearching==- Mar 31, 2012 12:19 PM (in response to BKBK)

It could be that imageNew() expects an image as parameter, and not on a binary.

Actually it accepts several parameters, including "A BLOB from a database that contains image data."
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/ColdFusion/9.0/CFMLRef/WSc3ff6d0ea77859461172e0811cbec22c24-79 6f.html
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8. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

BKBK Mar 31, 2012 12:43 PM (in response to BKBK)

BKBK wrote:

... and not on a binary...
Please read "and not a binary".
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9. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

Glowball Mar 31, 2012 2:07 PM (in response to BKBK)

I'll try that the next time I'm working on it, thanks!
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10. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

-==cfSearching==- Mar 31, 2012 2:38 PM (in response to Glowball)

I just tried it and no change. Creating the image does not seem to be the problem. But rather how CF determines the image format when returning the bytes. From what I observed, it mistakenly uses file extension to determine the image type. Obviously that does not apply if the image was created from a byte array or bufferedImage. Sounds like a bug.

-Leigh

Message was edited by: -==cfSearching==-
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11. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

Glowball Mar 31, 2012 2:47 PM (in response to -==cfSearching==-)

Hey, thanks for checking that out for me, I appreciate it. It's always good to hear when someone else is seeing the same weirdness.
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12. Re: BLOB Images in and out of Oracle

-==cfSearching==- Mar 31, 2012 3:01 PM (in response to Glowball)

It's always good to hear when someone else is seeing the same weirdness.

No problem. A second (or third) set of eyes makes a great sanity check.

Message was edited by: -==cfSearching==-
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