How to Save Image Path in Database Using MySQL & C#

Introduction

In this article we will first create a table in a MySQL database and then we will use a Windows Forms application to save an image into the database.

Description

Create a table in a MySQL database using MySQL browser as in the following. To store the image in the database, here is the script for the table:

CREATE TABLE `image` (
`name` varchar(100) default NULL,
`type` varchar(100) default NULL,
`desc` varchar(100) default NULL,
`docname` varchar(5000) default NULL,
`docdisc` varchar(500) default NULL
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1

Create a new Windows Forms application and arrange controls on the form as in the following:



Add a reference to the MySql.Data DLL using the Add Reference dialog box and include the following two namespaces:

using MySql.Data.MySqlClient;
using System.IO;

Write the following code in the Click event of PictureBox to select an image to be saved in the database:

//The String used to store the location of the file that is currently loaded in the picture box picFile
String location;

//The String used to store the name of the file that is currently loaded in the picture box picFile
String fileName; 
private void Browse_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
      openPic.Filter = "JPeg Image|*.jpg|Bitmap Image|*.bmp|Gif Image|*.gif";
      //Showing the fileopen dialog box
      openPic.ShowDialog();
      //showing the image opened in the picturebox
      pictureBox1.BackgroundImage = new Bitmap(openPic.FileName);
      //storing the location of the pic in variable
      location = openPic.FileName;
      textBox2.Text = location;
      //storing the filename of the pic in variable
      fileName = openPic.SafeFileName;
}

Write the following code in the Click event of the btnSave Button:

private void btn_SaveImage_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
      MySqlConnection con = new MySqlConnection(ConString);
      MySqlCommand cmd;
      FileStream fs;
      BinaryReader br; 
      try
      {
           //Creating a filestream to open the image file
           FileStream fs = new FileStream(location, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);

           //Getting the legth of the fil in bytes
           int fileLength = (int)fs.Length;

           //creating an array to store the image as bytes
           byte[] rawdata = new byte[fileLength];

           //using the filestream and converting the image to bits and storing it in
           //an array
           fs.Read(rawdata, 0, (int)fileLength);

           //Creating a new mysql command object which will be used to store the image
           MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand();
  
           //creating sql command
           String sql = "insert into doc1 values(@pfno,@depname,@doctype,@docdesc,@docexpdate,@docname,@docdisc)";
   
          //Connection
          con = new MySqlConnection();
          con.ConnectionString = ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["constr"];
          con.Open();

          //Setting the connection of the command
          cmd = new MySqlCommand(sql, con);

          //setting the sql of the command
          //cmd.CommandText = sql;
          //Setting up the parameter values to be used when storing the image to a
          //table
         //cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@docsize", rawdata);
          cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@name", label8.Text);
          cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@type", comboBox1.Text);
          cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@desc", textBox1.Text);
          cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@docname", textBox2.Text);
          cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@docdisc", fileLength);
          //Executing the query and writing the image to the database
          cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
          //Closing the filestream
          con.Close();
          MessageBox.Show("Done");
     }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
           MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
    } 
}

The comments are given in // blocks.