MVC4 Image Upload Using Entity Framework 5 Code First

Question

I am a beginner in MVC and am trying to add an image to the database and then retrieve it on the front end.

I have added my class:

using System;
using System.Data.Entity;
using System.Data.Entity.ModelConfiguration;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Schema;
using System.Web.Mvc;


namespace TestProject.Data
{
    public partial class UpcomingEvent
    {
        public UpcomingEvent()
        {
            EventDate = DateTime.Now;
            DateTimeStamp = DateTime.Now;
            Cancelled = false;
        }
    [Key]
    public int EventID { get; set; }
    public DateTime EventDate { get; set; }
    public string Title { get; set; }
    public string Blurb { get; set; }
    public string Body { get; set; }
    public byte[] EventImage { get; set; }
    public DateTime DateTimeStamp { get; set; }
    public bool Cancelled { get; set; }

}

}

And then created a controller with read/write actions using Entity Framework. In the create / edit etc all the fields display other than the image.

What do I need to add to my controller or view in order to send an image to the DB with each entry?

Answer 1

Here is a working example from one of our websites for insurance agencies. I am storing the logo in a directory. I am also resizing the logo, and creating a mobile version using ImageResizer (can be installed with Package Manager). While that's not necessary, it is a nice tool to have, especially when accepting uploads from end users.

View:

@using (Html.BeginForm("Upload","LogoController", FormMethod.Post, new { enctype = "multipart/form-data" }))
{

    <div class="form-horizontal">
        <div class="control-group">
            <label>
                Upload A Logo</label>
            <div class="controls">
                <input type="file" name="logo" />
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <p><input type="submit" name="Upload" value="Upload" class="button" />
    </p>
}

Controller:

    [HttpPost]
    public ActionResult Upload(HttpPostedFileBase logo)
    {
        SaveLogos(logo);
        return View();
    }

    private void SaveLogos(HttpPostedFileBase logo)
    {
        if (logo != null && logo.ContentLength > 0)
        {
            var ext = Path.GetExtension(logo.FileName);

            var path = Server.MapPath("~/Content/Images");
            var full = Path.Combine(path, "logo.png");

            path = Path.Combine(path, "Mobile");
            var mobile = Path.Combine(path, "logo.png");

            var tmp = Path.GetTempFileName() + "." + ext;
            try
            {

                if (!Directory.Exists(path))
                {
                    Directory.CreateDirectory(path);
                }

                if (System.IO.File.Exists(full))
                {
                    System.IO.File.Move(full, full.Replace(".png", DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd_hhmmss") + ".png"));
                }

                if (System.IO.File.Exists(mobile))
                {
                    System.IO.File.Move(mobile, mobile.Replace(".png", DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMdd_hhmmss") + ".png"));
                }
                // convert to png
                logo.SaveAs(tmp);

                var job = new ImageResizer.ImageJob(tmp, full,
                    new ImageResizer.ResizeSettings("width=460;height=102;format=png;mode=pad"));
                job.Build();

                // create mobile image
                job = new ImageResizer.ImageJob(tmp, mobile,
                    new ImageResizer.ResizeSettings("width=190;height=44;format=png;mode=pad"));
                job.Build();

            }
            catch (Exception e)
            {
                Logging.LogError(e, ControllerContext);
            }
            finally
            {
                System.IO.File.Delete(tmp);
            }

        }
    }

Storing this into EF would be a matter of obtaining the bytes for the images, possibly encoding them (base64 perhaps), and then storing the result into your object. This CodeProject Article provides examples of storing files into a varbinary(MAX) field.

Lastly, I would be negligent if I didn't offer a caveat about storing images in your database. Microsoft recommends against this if the images are larger than 1MB. See Entity Framework Column Type for Base64 String for a similar discussion.

Answer 2

You can search on the Internet first.

Look at this page: http://www.mikesdotnetting.com/article/125/asp-net-mvc-uploading-and-downloading-files