How to store a file in the database with Grails

Question

Hi,

I need to store a file in the database using Grails. So, do you know how I can do that? Which data type should I use in the domain class (byte[] might be a solution)?

Answer 1

See Chapter on Uploading Files in the Grails User Guide. It is also possible to use a java.sql.Blob as type for the binary content (which would be preferable when dealing with huge files).

Answer 2

alternatively, store the file on disk, and store the path to it in the database. it is generally faster to access that file on disk than in a db. but of course, that really just depends on your needs in the app. But be aware of this alternative.

Answer 3

I recently used byte[] in a domain class for storing file, it was working fine until i moved my application from "HSQLDB" to "Oracle express". On Oracle, byte[] was mapped to a raw object instead of blob... (not sure of what was exactly wrong) and I finally solve the problem by using a java.sql.blob

Answer 4

I have had the same problem. All I needed to do was to go to the database (Oracle) and change the column type from RAW to Blob. (Actually I had to remove the column and then to create a new one). I was never able to find out how to use a "java.sql.Blob" as suggested above. I found this this (converting from bytes to Blob), but it seemed a bit complicated.

Answer 5

You can force the domain object to use a specific type when updating or generating the database with column mappings:

byte[] orgFile

static mapping = { columns { orgFile type:'blob' } }

This has worked for me so far ;)