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Storing and Retrieving Images from SQL Server using Microsoft .NET

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30 Jun 20051 min read 902.4K   20.5K   162   60
Storing and retrieving images from SQL Server using Microsoft .NET.

Introduction

This article is about storing and retrieving images from database in Microsoft .NET using C#.

Tools Used

  • SQL Server 2000
  • Microsoft .NET Version 1.1
  • C# (Windows Forms based application)

Storing Images

  1. Create a table in a SQL Server 2000 database which has at least one field of type IMAGE.

    Here is the script I used:

    SQL
    CREATE TABLE [dbo].[tblImgData] (
    
            [ID] [int] NOT NULL ,
    
            [Name] [varchar] (50) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL ,
    
            [Picture] [image] NULL 
    
    ) ON [PRIMARY] TEXTIMAGE_ON [PRIMARY]
  2. Actually IMAGE field is just holding the reference to the page containing the binary data so we have to convert our image into bytes.
    1. I used a file open dialog box to locate the file.
      C#
      this.openFileDialog1.ShowDialog(this);
      string strFn=this.openFileDialog1.FileName;
    2. By using FileInfo class, I retrieved the file size:
      C#
      FileInfo fiImage=new FileInfo(strFn);
    3. Declare an array of that size.
      C#
      this.m_lImageFileLength=fiImage.Length;
      m_barrImg=new byte[Convert.ToInt32(this.m_lImageFileLength)];
    4. By using FileStream object, I filled the byte array.
      C#
      FileStream fs=new FileStream(strFn,FileMode.Open, 
                        FileAccess.Read,FileShare.Read);
      int iBytesRead=fs.Read(m_barrImg,0,
                     Convert.ToInt32(this.m_lImageFileLength));
      fs.Close();

    Complete Load Image Code

    C#
    protected void LoadImage()
    {
        try
        {
            this.openFileDialog1.ShowDialog(this);
            string strFn=this.openFileDialog1.FileName;
            this.pictureBox1.Image=Image.FromFile(strFn);
            FileInfo fiImage=new FileInfo(strFn);
            this.m_lImageFileLength=fiImage.Length;
            FileStream fs=new FileStream(strFn,FileMode.Open, 
                              FileAccess.Read,FileShare.Read);
            m_barrImg=new byte[Convert.ToInt32(this.m_lImageFileLength)];
            int iBytesRead = fs.Read(m_barrImg,0, 
                             Convert.ToInt32(this.m_lImageFileLength));
            fs.Close();
        }
        catch(Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
        }
    }
  3. Saving byte array data to database.
    1. Create command text to insert record.
      C#
      this.sqlCommand1.CommandText= 
        "INSERT INTO tblImgData(ID,Name,Picture)" + 
        " values(@ID,@Name,@Picture)";
    2. Create parameters.
      C#
      this.sqlCommand1.Parameters.Add("@ID",
                 System.Data.SqlDbType.Int, 4);
      this.sqlCommand1.Parameters.Add("@Name", 
                 System.Data.SqlDbType.VarChar, 50);
      
      this.sqlCommand1.Parameters.Add("@Picture", 
                 System.Data.SqlDbType.Image);

      Notice “@Picture” has “SqlDbType.Image” because it is of IMAGE type Field.

    3. Provide the value to the parameters.
      C#
      this.sqlCommand1.Parameters["@ID"].Value=this.editID.Text;
      this.sqlCommand1.Parameters["@Name"].Value=this.editName.Text;
      
      this.sqlCommand1.Parameters["@Picture"].Value=this.m_barrImg;

      this.m_barrImg” is a byte array which we filled in the previous step.

    4. Now execute non-query for saving the record to the database.
      C#
      int iresult=this.sqlCommand1.ExecuteNonQuery();

    Complete Save Image Code

    C#
    private void btnSave_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
    {
        try
        {
            this.sqlConnection1.Open();
            if (sqlCommand1.Parameters.Count ==0 )
            {
                this.sqlCommand1.CommandText="INSERT INTO tblImgData(ID," + 
                               " Name,Picture) values(@ID,@Name,@Picture)";
                this.sqlCommand1.Parameters.Add("@ID", 
                                 System.Data.SqlDbType.Int,4);
                this.sqlCommand1.Parameters.Add("@Name", 
                                 System.Data.SqlDbType.VarChar,50);
                this.sqlCommand1.Parameters.Add("@Picture", 
                                 System.Data.SqlDbType.Image);
            }
    
            this.sqlCommand1.Parameters["@ID"].Value=this.editID.Text;
            this.sqlCommand1.Parameters["@Name"].Value=this.editName.Text;
            this.sqlCommand1.Parameters["@Picture"].Value=this.m_barrImg;
    
            int iresult=this.sqlCommand1.ExecuteNonQuery();
            MessageBox.Show(Convert.ToString(iresult));
        }
        catch(Exception ex)
        {
            MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
        }
        finally
        {
            this.sqlConnection1.Close();
        }
    }

Retrieving Image

Retrieving images from the database is the exact reverse process of saving images to the database.

  1. First create command text to retrieve record.
    C#
    SqlCommand cmdSelect = new SqlCommand("select Picture" + 
                           " from tblImgData where ID=@ID", 
                           this.sqlConnection1);
  2. Create parameter for the query.
    C#
    cmdSelect.Parameters.Add("@ID",SqlDbType.Int,4);
  3. Provide value to the parameter.
    C#
    cmdSelect.Parameters["@ID"].Value=this.editID.Text;
  4. Open database connection and execute “ExecuteScalar” because we want only “IMAGE” column data back.
    C#
    byte[] barrImg=(byte[])cmdSelect.ExecuteScalar();

    As the execute scalar returns data of “Object” data type, we cast it to byte array.

  5. Save this data to a temporary file.
    C#
    string strfn=Convert.ToString(DateTime.Now.ToFileTime());
    FileStream fs=new FileStream(strfn,FileMode.CreateNew,FileAccess.Write);
    fs.Write(barrImg,0,barrImg.Length);
    fs.Flush();
    fs.Close();
  6. And display the image anywhere you want to display.
    C#
    pictureBox1.Image=Image.FromFile(strfn);

Complete Image Retrieving Code

C#
private void btnLoad_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
    try
    {
        SqlCommand cmdSelect=new SqlCommand("select Picture" + 
              " from tblImgData where ID=@ID",this.sqlConnection1);
        cmdSelect.Parameters.Add("@ID",SqlDbType.Int,4);
        cmdSelect.Parameters["@ID"].Value=this.editID.Text;

        this.sqlConnection1.Open();
        byte[] barrImg=(byte[])cmdSelect.ExecuteScalar();
        string strfn=Convert.ToString(DateTime.Now.ToFileTime());
        FileStream fs=new FileStream(strfn, 
                          FileMode.CreateNew, FileAccess.Write);
        fs.Write(barrImg,0,barrImg.Length);
        fs.Flush();
        fs.Close();
        pictureBox1.Image=Image.FromFile(strfn);
    }
    catch(Exception ex)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
    }
    finally
    {
        this.sqlConnection1.Close();
    }
}

Bibliography

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Comments and Discussions

 
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mentorNot Active6-Jul-06 2:44 
GeneralOut of memory exception Pin
Anuarg jain5-Sep-05 0:04
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GeneralRe: Out of memory exception Pin
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GeneralRe: Out of memory exception Pin
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GeneralRe: Out of memory exception Pin
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AnswerRe: Out of memory exception Pin
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GeneralThank you Kzmm Pin
David Roh29-Aug-05 9:00
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Question????? Pin
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