Add image column into an existing mysql table? - mysql

Question

I want to add a new column called image in an existing mysql table.
The type is BLOB, the attributes are BINARY and NO NULL
What code should I use in PhpMyAdmin?

Answer 1

In PhpMyAdmin you can use the table editor to add a new column from clicking on the structure of a table.
The mysql command instead, would be:
ALTER TABLE table_name ADD image MEDIUMBLOB NOT NULL
MEDIUMBLOB has a maximum size of 16MB, use LONGBLOB (up to 4GB) for anything bigger
If you have problems uploading BLOBs, check the value of max_allowed_packet http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/packet-too-large.html

Answer 2

It is not recommended to use BLOBs for saving images.
Save the files somewhere on your webserver for example .../htdocs/images/picture.jpg (assuming you use xampp).
then create a simple Column in you Database for Strings of the image names. To show you why i will use PHP.
in your .../htdocs/index.php
you can then do something like the following:
<?php
//enter you PhpMyAdmin details here.
$conn = mysql_connect("localhost", "mysql_user", "mysql_password");
if (!$conn) {
echo "Unable to connect to DB: " . mysql_error();
exit;
}
if (!mysql_select_db("mydbname")) {
echo "Unable to select mydbname: " . mysql_error();
exit;
}
$sql = "SELECT imageName
FROM MyTable
;
$result = mysql_query($sql);
if (!$result) {
echo "Could not successfully run query ($sql) from DB: " . mysql_error();
exit;
}
if (mysql_num_rows($result) == 0) {
echo "No rows found, nothing to print so am exiting";
exit;
}
// While a row of data exists, put that row in $row as an associative array
// Note: If you're expecting just one row, no need to use a loop
// Note: If you put extract($row); inside the following loop, you'll
// then create $userid, $fullname, and $userstatus
while ($row = mysql_fetch_assoc($result)) {
?>
<img src="images/<?=$row["userid"]?> <!-- this will get repeted for all the rows in you database -->
<?php
}
mysql_free_result($result);
?>
this is where i got the sample code from:
PHP Doc
i just modified it a bit .. but the php documentation is great btw.