Problem loading Blobs to Oracle DB

Question

Hi folks,
I am indeed stuck. I wrote a stored procedure, compiled it to byte-code, jarred it, used load java to load it into the Oracle 9i DB and wrapped it in a PL/SQL wrapper. It worked. simply calling it as:
select
    f_loadBlob('100')
  from dual... produced a return of 1 - that's what the function returns - which is the count of inserted DB rows.
Now, I altered the java code to load several Blobs instead of just one. I did not change any other code so far as checking and re-checking over and over again brings to my attention. I went through all the same steps - altering the PL/SQL wrapper to to suit.
But I can't get rid of the following error from the call:
  1  select
  2      f_loadPix('100','200')
  3*   from dual
11:05:55 SQL>
11:05:56 SQL> /
  from dual
ERROR at line 3:
ORA-29532: Java call terminated by uncaught Java exception:
java.lang.NullPointerException... where 100 and 200 are VARCHAR2 file-names, in the file system where the jpeg files exist.
I am willing to post the code, but just don't want to overwhelm any who might be inclined to help me out. So if you want to see the class file code, please just ask.
Thanks in advance,
~Bill
PS: Oh BTW - I neglected to tell that the java code works just fine when run through the command line as a class file and accesses the DB through JDBC.
I also have try/catches up to wazzu.

Answer 1

Ok ... I noticed a few checked this thread out, and so here's the answer:
1. I must be mistaken that the single load worked, because having discussed the problem with our DBA, I am assured that no permissions were changed on the file that I am accessing ... or was attempting to access.
2. Our DBA made the correct determination that - even though the message did not indicate the file could not be accessed, this was indeed the problem. It seems that even though I placated Oracle with the proper Grant, Unix still controled file access.
3. After Oracle was granted rights to the directory containing the files, it is now working for both single and batch Blob loads.
Now I just need to write the routine to get the Blobs out of the table and onto the web-page ... always fun.
Thanks everyone who took the time to give this a look, and I hope if anyone was interested, I might have in turn helped you. Best regards,
~Bill
PS: I also learned that
select
    f_loadBlob('100')
  from dualis not the correct way to run this function. Running it as:
variable x number;
call f_loadBlob('100') into :x;... is the correct way for testing.