Upload image directly through mySQL Command Line

Question

I have a certain table in mySQL which has a field called "image" with a datatype of "BLOB". I was wondering if it is possible to upload an image in that field directly from the Command Line Client rather than doing it through php...If it is possible, then where exactly should I place my image files?

Answer 1

Try using the LOAD_FILE() function.

UPDATE `certain_table`
SET image = LOAD_FILE('/full/path/to/new/image.jpg')
WHERE id = 1234;

See the manual for requirements about the path to the filename, privileges, etc.

Answer 2

LOAD_FILE works only with certain privileges and if the file is on the server. I've found out a way to make it work completely client side:

mysql -e "update mytable set image=FROM_BASE64('`base64 -i image.png`')" DBNAME

The idea is to encode the image to base64 on the fly and let then MySql decode it.