saving a pdf to a sql database using itextsharp

Question

I'm using this tutorial https://web.archive.org/web/20211020001747/https://www.4guysfromrolla.com/articles/030211-1.aspx that’s uses a PDF template, lets the user input fields using textbox's. The file downloads onto the client’s pc but I would like to save a copy of the file into a sql database also or just save the file in the database instead of both.

protected void btnGeneratePDF_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    var pdfPath = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("~/PDFTemplates/fw9.pdf"));

    // Get the form fields for this PDF and fill them in!
    var formFieldMap = PDFHelper.GetFormFieldNames(pdfPath);
    formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].f1_01_0_[0]"] = txtName.Text;
    formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].f1_02_0_[0]"] = txtBusinessName.Text;

    if (rblTaxClassification.SelectedValue != null)
    {
        var formFieldName = string.Format("topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].c1_01[{0}]", rblTaxClassification.SelectedIndex);
        formFieldMap[formFieldName] = (rblTaxClassification.SelectedIndex + 1).ToString();
    }

    if (chkExemptPayee.Checked)
        formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].c1_01[7]"] = "8";
        

    formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].f1_04_0_[0]"] = txtAddress.Text;
    formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].f1_05_0_[0]"] = txtCityStateZIP.Text;
    formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].f1_07_0_[0]"] = txtAccountNumbers.Text;

    // Requester's name and address (hard-coded)
    formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].f1_06_0_[0]"] = "Acme Website\n123 Anywhere Lane\nSpringfield, USA";

    // SSN
    if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(txtSSN1.Text))
    {
        formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].social[0].TextField1[0]"] = txtSSN1.Text;
        formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].social[0].TextField2[0]"] = txtSSN2.Text;
        formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].social[0].TextField2[1]"] = txtSSN3.Text;
    }
    else if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(txtEIN1.Text))
    {
        formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].social[0].TextField2[2]"] = txtEIN1.Text;
        formFieldMap["topmostSubform[0].Page1[0].social[0].TextField2[3]"] = txtEIN2.Text;
    }

    var pdfContents = PDFHelper.GeneratePDF(pdfPath, formFieldMap);

    PDFHelper.ReturnPDF(pdfContents, "Completed-W9.pdf");

    FileStream fs = new FileStream(pdfPath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
    BinaryReader br = new BinaryReader(fs);
    Byte[] bytes = br.ReadBytes((Int32)fs.Length);
    br.Close();
    fs.Close();

    //insert the file into database
    string strQuery = "insert into tblFiles(Name, ContentType, Data) values (@Name, @ContentType, @Data)";
    SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand(strQuery);
    cmd.Parameters.Add("@Name", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = "Completed-W9132.pdf";
    cmd.Parameters.Add("@ContentType", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = "application/pdf";
    cmd.Parameters.Add("@Data", SqlDbType.Binary).Value = bytes;
    InsertUpdateData(cmd);

App_code/pdfHelper.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Collections;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.IO;
using iTextSharp.text.pdf;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Configuration;  

public class PDFHelper
{
    public static Dictionary<string, string> GetFormFieldNames(string pdfPath)
    {
        var fields = new Dictionary<string, string>();

        var reader = new PdfReader(pdfPath);
        foreach (DictionaryEntry entry in reader.AcroFields.Fields)
            fields.Add(entry.Key.ToString(), string.Empty);
        reader.Close();

        return fields;
    }

    public static byte[] GeneratePDF(string pdfPath, Dictionary<string, string> formFieldMap)
    {
        var output = new MemoryStream();
        var reader = new PdfReader(pdfPath);
        var stamper = new PdfStamper(reader, output);
        var formFields = stamper.AcroFields;

        foreach (var fieldName in formFieldMap.Keys)
            formFields.SetField(fieldName, formFieldMap[fieldName]);

        stamper.FormFlattening = true;
        stamper.Close();
        reader.Close();

        return output.ToArray();
    }

    // See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4491156/get-the-export-value-of-a-checkbox-using-itextsharp/
    public static string GetExportValue(AcroFields.Item item)
    {
        var valueDict = item.GetValue(0);
        var appearanceDict = valueDict.GetAsDict(PdfName.AP);

        if (appearanceDict != null)
        {
            var normalAppearances = appearanceDict.GetAsDict(PdfName.N);
            // /D is for the "down" appearances.

            // if there are normal appearances, one key will be "Off", and the other
            // will be the export value... there should only be two.
            if (normalAppearances != null)
            {
                foreach (var curKey in normalAppearances.Keys)
                    if (!PdfName.OFF.Equals(curKey))
                        return curKey.ToString().Substring(1); // string will have a leading '/' character, so remove it!
            }
        }

        // if that doesn't work, there might be an /AS key, whose value is a name with 
        // the export value, again with a leading '/', so remove it!
        var curVal = valueDict.GetAsName(PdfName.AS);
        if (curVal != null)
            return curVal.ToString().Substring(1);
        else
            return string.Empty;
    }

    public static void ReturnPDF(byte[] contents)
    {
        ReturnPDF(contents, null);
    }

    public static void ReturnPDF(byte[] contents, string attachmentFilename)
    {
        var response = HttpContext.Current.Response;

        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(attachmentFilename))
            response.AddHeader("Content-Disposition", "attachment; filename=" + attachmentFilename);

        response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
        response.BinaryWrite(contents);
          response.End();
    }
}

Answer 1

The parts of the tutorial you're looking for in that case are right here:

Response.ContentType = "application/pdf";
Response.BinaryWrite(output.ToArray());

When saving a "file" to a database you essentially care about two (maybe three) things:

• The byte array of the file contents
• The type of the file
• (Maybe a name for the file)

Since the tutorial concludes with two of these things (above), the type and the data, you can store these two things into your database however you need to store them. This depends on the database you're using, how you access that database, etc. Essentially to store these two things you just need a text column (varchar?) and a binary (or "blob") column (varbinary?).

The only difference is that instead of setting the type as a header in an HTTP response and writing the bytes to that HTTP response, you're using both of them as values in your database. Everything else is the same.