MSSQL Binary PDF with PHP

Question

I've been pulling my hair out for a couple of days about the issue i'm having.

Trying to read a PDF that is stored as binary blob data in a SQL database (not mysql) varbinary field.

If I use a program like Navicat, and save the raw blob data directly as a PDF, the file works.

When I try and read the data through PHP from a mssql query and create a PDF file -

$file = "file.pdf";
$data = $row['FileData'];
file_put_contents($file, $data);

It creates the PDF, however it is corrupt and will not open.

I have difficulty in knowing exactly what format the data is stored as in the database. When I view the BLOB data in Navicat, it renders it like this:

%PDF-1.4
%Çì¢
5 0 obj
<</Length 6 0 R/Filter /FlateDecode>>
stream
xœÅY[o·F_÷Wð%èlðÞûX¸-8èCÐy-Éjt±´qÚüŒö÷#‡Crv¹Y§ÞÔ`qÈÃÃsùÎ…Ô“#    ±ñglïW_çÄÍn•¦ÅwÉƒç›ÕÓÊ*þKíx{/þxAR‹‹ë•CZN\I8ŠßF8FcI\Ü¯†ß/þ±b3jlx?â?    ¶rÔÊ‚áÅÛ¼}3Ïm2£y¡·ÿO«WÐB
'ÉŽÖ‰û•Æ—Ï»é[¢¸$”•ViGÅ^<_®¿\Ù‘øçÊ‹oAûÍj£a\’¡ÙBÉÞ¿´q×ë$TÆqRúI<–3weÆúežwÕ
9q–a›¢W¯~¢«ÕHŒ^£l\Ìÿê7–‹H^–

It's hard to show you what the raw data in the database looks like, as binary data as I believe can't be viewed properly, and what you see is just the interpretation of what it really is.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

You may need external libraries to fully manipulate pdf from BLOB: stackoverflow.com/questions/467793/… — Vladimir Ramik
– Vladimir Ramik, Commented Mar 10, 2015 at 3:07
what is the php that retrieves the data from the table? your db method might be screwing up the data by trying to sanitize it or something — chiliNUT
– chiliNUT, Commented Mar 10, 2015 at 3:13
@VladimirRamik you shouldnt need an external library to pull binary data from a database and write it to a file. OP is not manipulating pdf data, they are just trying to pull it and write it to disk — chiliNUT
– chiliNUT, Commented Mar 10, 2015 at 3:15
I would avoid using any and all external libraries if possible. Was simply sharing a good link I've used before. — Vladimir Ramik
– Vladimir Ramik, Commented Mar 10, 2015 at 3:17
Thanks @chiliNUT - it's super frustrating as it normally would just work. I'm not doing anything complicated, and I know the data is binary stored in the database. I appreciate your input. — Nicholas Morley
– Nicholas Morley, Commented Mar 10, 2015 at 3:49

Nicholas Morley · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-10 11:44:41Z

1

Solved the issue by adding the following to my .htaccess file

php_value mssql.textlimit 10000000
php_value mssql.textsize 10000000

Basically it was writing the files, but it was stopping 63kb (64,512 bytes) into the file, so increasing this limit enabled the script to finish writing the remainder of the file.

Hope this helps someone else with the same issue.

answered Mar 10, 2015 at 11:44

Nicholas Morley

437 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Gururaju Hiddenx · Accepted Answer · 2015-03-10 03:07:01Z

0

Have you tried this?

select hex(pdf) from table;

Use the above query and use file_put_contents(); to store your contents onto a file.

PHP does a great job providing easy conversions between binary to hex and hex to binary.

answered Mar 10, 2015 at 3:07

Gururaju Hiddenx

1991 gold badge5 silver badges19 bronze badges

1 Comment

Nicholas Morley Over a year ago

I did, however I receive the error: [Err] 42000 - [SQL Server]'HEX' is not a recognized built-in function name. I am using SQL server here, not mysql.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

MSSQL Binary PDF with PHP

2 Answers 2

Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related