Unable to convert string into binary

Question

Hello,
I have a web application that does the following:
1. Takes in user information via form. This includes images.
2. Displays all the user information in a portfolio. Looks like the portfolio on this page:
http://wrapbootstrap.com/preview/WB00PN23G
3. When clicking on each item you are brought to a page that displays the form information and the images.
So far it works fine but instead of sending the images as binary to SQL database I send them as strings and the problem is now when I update the code on my cloud host the images no longer display but all the text displays fine. I am thinking the problem
is that instead of sending my images as strings I need to store them as binary and retrieve them as well. The problem is I did some research and have been unsuccessful in the ways mentioned.
Here is my code for the form:
//gather all the information from the form
//I call a stored procedure to send my data to my sql database
using (SqlCommand cmd = new SqlCommand("SaveImage", connection.con))
cmd.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
cmd.Parameters.Add("@username", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = UserName.Text;
cmd.Parameters.Add("@email", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = Email.Text;
cmd.Parameters.Add("@project", SqlDbType.NVarChar).Value = Project.Text;
cmd.Parameters.Add("@description", SqlDbType.NVarChar).Value = Description.Text;
cmd.Parameters.Add("@img1", SqlDbType.VarBinary).Value = img1;
cmd.Parameters.Add("@img2", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = img2;
cmd.Parameters.Add("@img3", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = ppt;
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
cmd.Parameters.Clear();
connection.con.Close();
//Here is the stored procedure
USE [TestDB]
GO
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
ALTER proc [dbo].[SaveImage]
@username varchar(100),
@email varchar(50),
@project nvarchar(MAX),
@description nvarchar(MAX),
@img1 varbinary(MAX),
@img2 nvarchar(MAX),
@img3 nvarchar(MAX) as
INSERT INTO ProjectTbl(UserName, Email, ProjectName, ProjectDescription, Image1, Image2, Image3)
VALUES (@username, @email, @project, @description, @img1, @img2,@img3)
// Here is the code for the page that displays all the projects submitted in the form of a portfolio (just the backend not the front-end)
public static string CreateSessionViaJavascript(string strTest)
Page objp = new Page();
objp.Session["controlID"] = strTest;
return strTest;
public static string imgString;
//public string[] array;
public List<string> image1 = new List<string>();
public List<string> image2 = new List<string>();
public List<string> image3 = new List<string>();
public List<string> finalimages = new List<string>();
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
if (!IsPostBack)
LoadData();
private void LoadData()
var data = DataAccess.GetCurrentProject();
try
data.Columns.Add("hrefPath");
foreach (DataRow dr in data.Rows)
dr["hrefPath"] = "project.aspx?ID=" + dr["Id"];
DataListProjectImg.DataSource = data;
DataListProjectImg.DataBind();
catch (Exception ex)
protected void ImageButton1_Click(object sender, ImageClickEventArgs e)
var imgButton = sender as ImageButton;
if (imgButton != null)
Response.Redirect("project.aspx?ID=" + imgButton.CommandArgument, false);
//And here is the code for the each individual item that is clicked on in the portfolio. The images are displayed in a carousel along with the user entered data:
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
//string code = "" + Session["Code"].ToString();
projectId = Request.QueryString["ID"];
if (!this.IsPostBack)
LoadData();
private void LoadData()
Connection connection = new Connection();
try
connection.connection1();
SqlCommand com = new SqlCommand("Select Image1,Image2,Image3,UserName,ProjectName,ProjectDescription,Email FROM ProjectTbl Where id='" + projectId + "'", connection.con);
SqlDataReader dataReader = com.ExecuteReader();
while (dataReader.Read())
image1.Src = dataReader["Image1"].ToString();
image2.Src = dataReader["Image2"].ToString();
image3.Src = (dataReader["Image3"] != null && (dataReader["Image3"].ToString().Contains(".ppt") || dataReader["Image3"].ToString().Contains(".pptx"))) ? "assets/img/PPTdefault2.png" : dataReader["Image3"].ToString();
hprPptLink.HRef = (dataReader["Image3"] != null && (dataReader["Image3"].ToString().Contains(".ppt") || dataReader["Image3"].ToString().Contains(".pptx"))) ? dataReader["Image3"].ToString() : "#";
Name.Text = dataReader["UserName"].ToString();
ProjectName.Text = dataReader["ProjectName"].ToString();
Description.Text = dataReader["ProjectDescription"].ToString();
Email.Text = dataReader["Email"].ToString();
FillDataForEditProjectModal(dataReader);
dataReader.Close();
catch (Exception)
throw;
private void FillDataForEditProjectModal(SqlDataReader dataReader)
UserName.Text = Convert.ToString(dataReader["UserName"]);
txtEmail.Text = Convert.ToString(dataReader["Email"]);
Project.Text = Convert.ToString(dataReader["ProjectName"]);
txtDescription.Text = Convert.ToString(dataReader["ProjectDescription"]);
protected void btnSaveProjDetails_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
SaveUploadedFiles();
LoadData();
private void SaveUploadedFiles()
try
//validation part
if (Images1.HasFile)
if (!CheckImageFileType(Images1))
GenerateImageUploadJavascriptError("Image 1 Upload");
return;
if (Images2.HasFile)
if (!CheckImageFileType(Images2))
GenerateImageUploadJavascriptError("Image 2 Upload");
return;
if (Images3.HasFile)
if (!Images3.PostedFile.FileName.ToLower().Contains("ppt") || !Images3.PostedFile.FileName.ToLower().Contains("pptx"))
string script = "alert('Please Select PPT/pptx type only')";
ScriptManager.RegisterStartupScript(Page, Page.GetType(), "pptUploadError", script, true);
return;
//End validation part
//uploading part
string image1Path = string.Empty;
string image2Path = string.Empty;
string image3Path = string.Empty;
if (Images1.HasFile)
image1Path = Path.GetFileName(Images1.PostedFile.FileName);
Images1.SaveAs(Server.MapPath(image1Path));
if (Images2.HasFile)
image2Path = Path.GetFileName(Images2.PostedFile.FileName);
Images2.SaveAs(Server.MapPath(image2Path));
if (Images3.HasFile)
image3Path = Path.GetFileName(Images3.PostedFile.FileName);
Images3.SaveAs(Server.MapPath(image2Path));
DataAccess.UpdateProjectDetails(UserName.Text, txtEmail.Text, Project.Text, txtDescription.Text, image1Path, image2Path, image3Path, projectId);
//end of uplaoding part
catch (Exception ex)
throw;
//Server.Transfer("current.aspx");

Answer 1

Hi compuluv,
To store it in the Image object. This image object must be converted to a byte array.
Based upon your code as below, please try to change Varchar to byte[].
cmd.Parameters.Add("@img1", SqlDbType.VarBinary).Value = img1;
cmd.Parameters.Add("@img2", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = img2;
cmd.Parameters.Add("@img3", SqlDbType.VarChar).Value = ppt;
cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
For more detailed information, please check
C# Save and Load Image from Database
By the way, since your project is a web application, I also found a asp.net version as below.
You can get some hints.
http://www.dbtutorials.com/retrieve/saving-retrieving-image-cs/ 
Best regards,
Kristin
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