Django Binary or BLOB model field

Question

I have a C# program that inserts a pdf inside a MySQL database. Now I want to retrieve that pdf via django but django's models.FileField needs an "Upload To" parameter which means behind the scenes it actually stores the File on the file system rather than in the database. Is there any way I can set up a django model so that I can store the pdf directly inside MySQL?

Regards

possible duplicate of [Django Blob Model Field](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4915397/django-blob-model-field) — Spacedman, Aug 15 '11 at 12:22
that duplicate asks about PostgreSQL, but the solution should work for MySQL. — Spacedman, Aug 15 '11 at 12:22

score 16 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 25 '14 at 18:40

16

Just as an update to this, as of Django 1.6, there's now a BinaryField option that will store files up to 4 GB in size. https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/models/fields/#django.db.models.BinaryField

answered Jul 25 '14 at 18:40

Kevin London

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score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 18 '11 at 13:18

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I have been dealing with this same issue, writing a pdf to a mediumblob field in mysql and retrieving via django. I have set the mysql field type to a mediumblob and the django field type to textfield. I have used a queryset and httpresponse to view the PDF objects in a browser (but not directly in django).

answered Aug 18 '11 at 13:18

Joseph

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I did try the same and it felt very hacky and not in the nature of django. So I used PHP for the project instead. Like they say use the right tool for the right job! Storing data in blob fields especially in web development is frowned upon. But sometimes you HAVE to do it! =) – RaVen Aug 19 '11 at 07:05

Django Binary or BLOB model field

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