cpostgresqllibpqbytea

PostgreSQL Save and Pick files using Bytea binary data with C libpq


This was the result of my experiments with bytea with postgreSQL and libpq. The result file I am creating with the recieved data is double sized than the original uploaded plus 2 bytes (picture.png). I can not understand exactly how many operations I am doing incorrectly because the procedure is quite confusing for my critter brain. Any help or advice will be a big help for me, thank you in advance.

<edited 27/5/2021> you can find the solution a little below

#include <string>
#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>

#include "libpq/libpq-fs.h"
#include "libpq-fe.h"

#pragma comment(lib, "libpq.lib")   /*!< Only for windows compilation */

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    //************************ SAVING FILE TO DB AS BYTEA **********
    manager.conn = manager.ConnectDB();  // my manager, working fine    

    FILE* file = fopen("powerup.png", "rb");
    if (file == NULL) cout << endl << "FILE WAS UNABLE TO BE READED" << endl;
    fseek(file, 0, SEEK_END);
    long int fileSize = ftell(file);

    rewind(file);

    unsigned char* buffRead = (unsigned char*)malloc(fileSize);
    size_t bytes_read = fread(buffRead, 1, fileSize, file);
    if (bytes_read != fileSize) cout << endl << "fread reading Error";
    fclose(file);

    const char* paramValues[3];
    paramValues[0] = "1";
    paramValues[1] = "powerup.png";
    paramValues[2] = reinterpret_cast<const char*>(buffRead);       //._.' type cast required to PQexeParams?

    const int paramFormats[3]{ 0,0,1 };
    const int paramLenghts[3]{ strlen(paramValues[0]), strlen(paramValues[1]), fileSize};

    PGresult *res = PQexecParams(manager.conn, "INSERT INTO filebyte (id, filename, file) VALUES($1::text, $2::text, $3::bytea)",
        3,              /* params */
        NULL,           /* let the backend deduce param type */
        paramValues,
        paramLenghts,   /* don't need param lengths since text */
        paramFormats,   /* default to all text params */
        1);

    if (res && PQresultStatus(res) == PGRES_COMMAND_OK) cout << endl << "Inserted data to filebyte OK";

    PQfreemem(res);

    //********************** PICKING FILE FROM DB AS BYTEA **********
    
    const char* bytesFromDB = new const char[fileSize];
    int sizeR = -1;
    const char *sentenceEx = "SELECT file FROM filebyte WHERE id='1'";

    res = PQexec(manager.conn, sentenceEx);

    if (res && PQresultStatus(res) == PGRES_TUPLES_OK) 
    {
        sizeR = PQgetlength(res, 0, 0);
        bytesFromDB = PQgetvalue(res, 0, 0);
    }

    ofstream myFile("picture.png", ios::out | ios::binary);

    myFile.write(bytesFromDB, sizeR);
    myFile.close();

    PQfreemem(res);
    free(buffRead);
    delete sizeP;

    manager.CloseConn(manager.conn);

    return true;
}


Solution

  • This is the result of the code working fine. I have some time to post it now in case it could help somebody. It was a little hard for me to understand how bytea works but finally it's solved. Kind regards to the comunity.

    enter image description here

    #include <string>
    #include <fstream>
    #include <iostream>
    #include <sstream>
    
    #include "libpq/libpq-fs.h"
    #include "libpq-fe.h"
    
    #pragma comment(lib, "libpq.lib")   /*!< Only for windows compilation */
    
    int main(int argc, char* argv[])
    {
        ManageDB manager;       
    
        manager.conn = manager.ConnectDB();  // My manager, connects ok
    
        const char* fileName = {"test.png"};
        const char* fileNameOut = { "testOut.png" };
    
        FILE* file = fopen(fileName, "rb");
        if (file == NULL) cout << endl << "FILE WAS UNABLE TO BE READED" << endl;
        fseek(file, 0, SEEK_END);
        long int fileSize = ftell(file);
    
        rewind(file);
    
        unsigned char* buffRead = (unsigned char*)malloc(fileSize);
        size_t bytes_read = fread(buffRead, 1, fileSize, file);
        if (bytes_read != fileSize) cout << endl << "fread reading Error";
        fclose(file);
        
        size_t* sizeP = new size_t(fileSize);
    
        const char* paramValues[3];
        paramValues[0] = "1";
        paramValues[1] = fileName;
        paramValues[2] = reinterpret_cast<const char*>(buffRead);   // type cast required to PQexeParams
    
        const int paramFormats[3]{ 0,0,1 };   //0 = text, 1 = binary
        const int paramLenghts[3]{ strlen(paramValues[0]), strlen(paramValues[1]), fileSize};
    
        PGresult *res = PQexecParams(manager.conn, "INSERT INTO filebyte (id, filename, file) VALUES($1::text, $2::text, $3::bytea)",
            3,              /* params num */
            NULL,           /* let the backend deduce param type */
            paramValues,
            paramLenghts,
            paramFormats,
            1);
    
        if (res && PQresultStatus(res) == PGRES_COMMAND_OK) cout << endl << "Inserted data to filebyte OK";
    
        PQfreemem(res);
    
        //************************download from DB*************************
        
        const char* bytesFromDB = new const char[fileSize];
        int sizeR;
        // Table columns = id(text) | filename(text) | file(bytea)
        const char* sentenceEx = "SELECT file FROM filebyte WHERE id='1'";
    
        res = PQexec(manager.conn, sentenceEx);
    
        if (res && PQresultStatus(res) == PGRES_TUPLES_OK)
        {
            sizeR = PQgetlength(res, 0, 0);
            bytesFromDB = PQgetvalue(res, 0, 0);
        }
        else cout << endl << "Error at inserting file data in filebyte table";
    
        string hex(bytesFromDB, 2, sizeR-2);  //removing the first '\x' characters of the result.
    
        // vars for converting to real bytes process
        std::basic_string<uint8_t> bytes;
        bytes.clear();
        std::string nextbyte; 
        nextbyte.clear();
        uint16_t byte;
    
        // Iterate over every pair of hex values in the input string (e.g. "18", "0f", ...)
        for (size_t i = 0; i < hex.length(); i += 2)
        {
            // Get current pair and store in nextbyte
            nextbyte = hex.substr(i, 2);
    
            // Put the pair into an istringstream and stream it through std::hex for
            // conversion into an integer value.
            // This will calculate the byte value of your string-represented hex value.
            std::istringstream(nextbyte) >> std::hex >> byte;
    
            // As the stream above does not work with uint8 directly, we have to cast it now.
            // As every pair can have a maximum value of "ff",
            // which is "11111111" (8 bits), we will not lose any information during this cast.
            bytes.push_back(static_cast<uint8_t>(byte));
        }
    
        // string obj from bytes-"array"
        std::string result(begin(bytes), end(bytes));
    
        ofstream myFile(fileNameOut, ios::out | ios::ios_base::binary);
        
        if (myFile.is_open())
        {
            myFile << result;
            myFile.close();
        }
        else cout << endl << "Impossible to writte the file " << fileNameOut;
        
        manager.CloseConn(manager.conn);   //closes connection with database internally ok
    
        PQfreemem(res);
        free(buffRead);
        delete sizeP;
        free((char*)fileName[8]);
        free((char*)fileNameOut[11]);
        
        return true;
    }