how to store and retrieve images in database using CodeIgniter

Question

I am using a WAMP server, and I want to upload images in the database using CI.The image variable in database is of blob datatype. My question's as follows:

1) How to store the image instead of the file name and what datatypes should I use?

2) How to retrieve images from the DB?

My controller's code:

<?php class Image_control extends CI_Controller{
function index()
{
    //$this->load->view('image_view');

    //$this->Image_model->do_upload();

    $data['images']=$this->Image_model->get_images();
    $this->load->view('image_view',$data);  
}
function do_upload()
{
    $config = array(
        'allowed_types' => 'jpg|png|bmp', 
        'upload_path'=>'./images1/',
        'max_size'=>2000
    );
    $this->load->library('upload',$config);
    if (!$this->upload->do_upload()) {
        $errors[]=array('error'=>$this->upload->display_errors());
        $this->load->view('image_view',$errors);
    }
    $image_path=$this->upload->data();
    $file_name=$image_path['file_name'];
    $config = array(
        'a_name' => $this->input->post('a_name'),
        'a_details'=>$this->input->post('a_info'),
        'a_photo'=>$file_name
    );
    $insert=$this->db->insert('animalstore',$config);
    return $insert;
}   
}
?>

My model's code:

<?php class Image_model extends CI_Model {
function get_images()
{
    $query = $this->db->get('animalstore');
    if($query->num_rows > 0 )
    {
        foreach($query->result() as $rows)
        {
            $data[] = $rows;
        }
        return $data;
    }
}
}
?>

And finally here's the code for my view:

<?php
    echo form_open_multipart('image_control/do_upload');
    echo form_input('a_name','Animal Name');
    echo form_input('a_info','Animal Information');
    echo form_upload('userfile');
    echo form_submit('upload','Upload');
    echo form_close();
?>

<?php foreach ($images as $image):?>
<h1><?php echo $image->a_name;?></h1>
<h1><?php echo $image->a_details;?></h1>
<img src = "/<?php// echo ltrim($image->a_photo, '/'); ?>" >
<img src="http://localhost/ci_test/images1/<?php echo $image->a_photo;?>"/> 
<img src="<?php //echo sprintf("images/%s", $image['screenshot']);?>" />
<h1><?php// echo $image->a_photo;?></h1>
<?php endforeach; ?>

I tried solving it in different ways and searched for my problem but I didn't find any appropriate answer.

Do not store images in database http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6472233/can-i-store-images-in-mysql — user20232359723568423357842364, Jun 20 '13 at 21:18

TravisO · Answer 1 · 2013-06-20T21:24:23.580

4

DO NOT STORE FILES INSIDE THE DATABASE!!!

This is always a bad design idea. Store the files in the file system and simply store the file names and point to the file, it will save you a lot of headaches in the future.

edited Jun 20 '13 at 21:24

answered Jun 20 '13 at 21:18

TravisO

9,406
4
36
44

1

I don't agree with that, what happens when the server is on a cluster? and what's happen on the backups? for my the best design approach is store the images on a database. – Christian Suarez Nov 08 '13 at 13:46
1

-1 for providing an opinion rather than adding a solution. Portability eg is one of many advantages of storing images (or other files for that matter) in a DB. – Rid Iculous Nov 10 '13 at 00:12

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 20 '13 at 21:51

2

// uploading
public function do_upload(){
...

$image_path=$this->upload->data();
$uploaded_image = $image_path['full_path'];

// Read the file
$fp = fopen($uploaded_image, 'r');
$data = fread($fp, filesize($uploaded_image));
$data = addslashes($data);
fclose($fp);

// here you can easy insert $data to 'a_photo' column.    

}


// Viewing, $image_id is row id
public function getImage($image_id){

// select $row from database as usual and then

$content = $row['a_photo'];
echo '<img src="data:image/jpeg;base64,'.base64_encode($content).'">';
}

In your template:

<?php getImage(12); ?>

where 12 is row id.

answered Jun 20 '13 at 21:51

ToxaBes

1,587
8
17

1

Why would you call a controller method within a template/view? – kittycat Jun 20 '13 at 22:33
It's just an example for showing how it's working. In real world getImage() will be called in controller, result assigned to some template variable and then showed in template. And in real world TravisO's answer is fully correct :) – ToxaBes Jun 20 '13 at 22:49

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 21 '13 at 19:03

try this code

models code

function do_upload() {

    $config = array(
            'allowed_types' => 'jpg|png|bmp', 
            'upload_path'=>'./images1/', //make sure you have this folder
            'max_size'=>2000
        );

        $this->load->library('upload',$config);

        if ($this->upload->do_upload()) {
            echo "Upload success!";
        } else {
            echo "Upload failed!";
        }
    $image_data = $this->upload->data();

    }  

function get_images()
    {
        $query = $this->db->get('animalstore');
        return $query;
    }

function Save_gallery($in)
{
$save=$this->db->insert('animalstore',$in);
return $save;
}

controller code

function index()
{
    $this->load->model('Image_control'); //call a models

    if ($this->input->post('upload')) {

    $in=array();

    $in['a_name']    = $this->input->post('a_name'),
    $in['a_details'] = $this->input->post('a_info'),
    $in['a_photo']=$_FILES['userfile']['name'];

    if($this->Image_model->do_upload()) {

    echo $this->upload->display_errors();

    }else {

    $this->Image_model->Save_gallery($in);

    header('location:index');
    }

    $data['images']=$this->Image_model->get_images();
    $this->load->view('image_view',$data);  
}

view

<?php
    echo form_open_multipart('image_control/index');
    echo form_input('a_name','Animal Name');
    echo form_input('a_info','Animal Information');
    echo form_upload('userfile');
    echo form_submit('upload','Upload');
    echo form_close();
?>

<?php foreach ($images as $image):?>
<h1><?php echo $image['a_name'];?></h1>
<h1><?php echo $image['a_details'];?></h1>
<?php echo '<img src ="'. base_url().'images1/'.$image['a_photo'].'" >";
endforeach; ?>

that's not storing it in the DB – Rid Iculous Nov 10 '13 at 00:09 — Rid Iculous, Nov 10 '13 at 00:09

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 10 '13 at 00:40

Here's a quick something I use for small PNG thumbnails. These are stored in a table called "coreg" in a field named "IMAGE". The field-type is LONGBLOB. Every upload overwrites the previous image. In the actual app the view-file is displayed as an iframe:

VIEW FILE FOR UPLOADING (better to use the CI specific form tags of course, but you get the idea)

add_image.php:

    Current image:
   <img src='/media/png/coreg/<?=$coregID?>' />
    <? if(isset($error)){ echo $error; }?>
    <form method='post' enctype="multipart/form-data" action='add_image/<?=$coregID?>'>
      <input name="userfile" type="file"  class='vLink' />
      <input name="submitbtn" type="submit" value=" upload &amp; overwrite " class='eLink' />
    </form>

CONTROLLER TO SHOW THE IMAGE

More elegant would be to use a view instead of the echo and to move the DB logic into the model, but this shows the functionality better IMHO:

media.php

    require_once dirname(__FILE__) . "/base.php";

        class Media extends BaseController {

        function __construct() {  
            parent::__construct();
        }


        function png($table,$id)  {
             $this->db->where('ID',$id);
            $r = $this->db->get($table);
            if($r->num_rows){
                $r = $r->result_array();
                header("Content-Type: image/png"); 
                echo $r[0]['IMAGE'];
            }   
        }


    }

CONTROLLER TO UPLOAD THE IMAGE:

function add_image($coregID){
        $data['coregID'] = $coregID;
        $data['error'] = '';
        if(isset($_POST['submitbtn'])){
            $config['upload_path'] = './assets/img/coreg/';
            $config['allowed_types'] = 'png';
            $config['max_size'] = '100';
            $config['max_width']    = '350';
            $config['max_height']  = '350';
            $config['file_name']    = $coregID.".png";
            if(file_exists($config['upload_path'].$config['file_name'])){
                unlink($config['upload_path'].$config['file_name']);
            }
            $this->load->library('upload', $config);

            if ( ! $this->upload->do_upload()){             
                $data['error'] = $this->upload->display_errors();   
            }   else    {
                $this->upload->data();
                // now move the image into the DB
                $fp = fopen($config['upload_path'].$config['file_name'], 'r');
                $data = fread($fp, filesize($config['upload_path'].$config['file_name']));

                $this->db->where('ID',$coregID);
                $this->db->update('COREG',array('IMAGE' =>$data));
                fclose($fp);
                // optionally delete the file from the HD after this step
                //unlink($config['upload_path'].$config['file_name']);
            }
        }

            $this->load->view("add_image", $data);  

    }

score 0 · Answer 5 · edited Jun 06 '20 at 10:34

try this code controller:-

<?php
class Profile extends CI_Controller {
        public function __construct()
        {
                parent::__construct();
                $this->load->helper(array('form', 'url'));
        }

        public function index()
        {
                $this->load->view('profile', array('error' => ' ' ));
        }

        function do_upload(){
            $config['upload_path']          = './uploads/';
            $config['allowed_types']        = 'gif|jpg|png';
            $this->load->library('upload', $config);
            if ( ! $this->upload->do_upload())
            {
                    $error = array('error' => $this->upload->display_errors());

                    $this->load->view('profile', $error);
            }
            else
            {
                    $data = $this->upload->data();
                    $data['img']=base_url().'./uploads/'.$data['file_name'];
                    $image['profile_pic'] = $data['file_name'];
                    $this->db->insert('user_profile_pic', $image);
                    $this->load->view('profile', $data);    
            }
        }   
}

Hi,please explain what your solution does and how it differs from the other answers. — Rmaxx, Jun 06 '20 at 11:21

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Jun 06 '20 at 10:36

0

view:

<?php echo form_open_multipart('profile/do_upload');?>
<input type="file" name="userfile" size="20" />
<br /><br /> 
<input type="submit" value="upload" />
<img src="<?php echo $img ?>" width="300px" height="300px">
</form>
?>

edited Jun 06 '20 at 10:36

David Buck

3,752
35
31
35

answered Jun 06 '20 at 10:13

Neelam Latwal

1

how to store and retrieve images in database using CodeIgniter

6 Answers6