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K
kelsey720
Participating Frequently
September 9, 2009
Question

Problem opening PDF after creating it using PHP and storing in the MySQL table.

  • September 9, 2009
  • 1 reply
  • 1016 views

Hello,

I am creating a pdf document and outputting it as a string using:

$mypdf = $pdf->Output('', 'S');

I am then putting it into a database as a BLOB and redirecting to page y using:

$insertSQL = sprintf("INSERT INTO PDF_file (pdf_name) VALUES (%s)",
                              GetSQLValueString($mypdf, "text"));

mysql_select_db($database_files, $files);
$Result1 = mysql_query($insertSQL, $files) or die(mysql_error());

I have a link on page y called:

<a href="home.php?pdf_id=<?php echo $row_getPDF['pdf_id'];?>">Click here to view your PDF.</a>

When whoever clicks the link, the following is processed:

if (isset($_GET['pdf_id'])) {
header("Content-type: application/pdf");
header('Content-disposition: attachment; filename="myresume.pdf"');
echo $row_getPDF['pdf_name'];
}

A box opens and I am giving the option to open or save the file. The pdf downloads but when I try to view it there is a couple lines present on the second page and that's it. The pdf is either not being stored properly or not downloaded properly. It works just fine when I am not converting it into a string. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Kelsey

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

David_Powers
David_Powers
Inspiring
September 9, 2009
It works just fine when I am not converting it into a string.

Well, why convert into a string? It's a binary object. In fact, why store it in a database? Storing it in a database just bloats your tables. It would make more sense to store it outside the database, and just store the details of its location.

K
kelsey720Author
Participating Frequently
September 10, 2009

The reason I am storing it in the database is because the pdf file being created needs to be sent to multiple users if needed and viewed by multiple users. Or is there a way to do this without storing it locally on a computer?  I have done more looking into the problem though and it seems like there is an issue in storing the string in the database and retrieving it. So what I have done is the following:

//create pdf, convert to string, assign it to a variable, and get pdf name from form

$pdf_content = $pdf->Output('$pdf', 'S');

$fileName = $_POST['pdf_name'];

$fileName .= '.pdf';

//insert into database

$insertSQL = sprintf("INSERT INTO my_table (pdf_name, pdf_content) VALUES (%s, %s)",
                       GetSQLValueString($fileName, "text"),
                       GetSQLValueString($pdf_content, "text"));
  mysql_select_db($database_mydatabase, $mydatabase);
  $Result1 = mysql_query($insertSQL, $mydatabase) or die(mysql_error());

  $insertGoTo = "/view/pdf.php";
  if (isset($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'])) {
    $insertGoTo .= (strpos($insertGoTo, '?')) ? "&" : "?";
    $insertGoTo .= $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'];
  }
  header(sprintf("Location: %s", $insertGoTo));

Then on the page "pdf.php" I have a link to click on the pdf:
<a href="home.php?pdf_id=<?php echo $row_getPDF['pdf_id'];?>"><?php echo $row_getPDF['pdf_name'];?></a>

After creating the url I have:

if (isset($_GET['pdf_id'])) {

        $fileType = 'application/pdf';
        header("Content-type: ".$fileType."; charset=UTF-8");
        header("Content-disposition: attachment; filename=".$row_getPDF['pdf_name']);
        echo $row_getPDF['pdf_content'];

}

When I open the pdf, the pdf is corrupted and only a couple lines of the original pdf work. I have tried using  "$_SESSION['pdf_content'] = $pdf->Output('$pdf', 'S');" and replacing "echo $row_getPDF['pdf_content'];" with  "echo $_SESSION['pdf_content'];" and it works just fine. So what am I doing wrong when storing it in the database? The "pdf_content" column is set to MEDIUMBLOB.

K
kelsey720Author
Participating Frequently
September 10, 2009

I just got it working. I was missing the function addslashes() on the pdf string. The tutorial I was following wasn't using it. Thanks anyways for the help.

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