Sql – Save MS Office files stored in SQL Server directly to server directory with ASP.Net

asp.netms-wordpowerpointsql server

I am storing MS Office files such as PowerPoint (.ppt, .pptx) and Word (.doc, .docx) in SQL Server, and need to save these files to a temp file directory on the server through an ASP.Net application. I get the files up from the database and into the application as a Byte Array. But what I don’t know is how to then save the Byte Array as a file in the appropriate format (.ppt/.pptx etc) in a specified directory location.

I know that I can use code along the lines of setting the Response.ContentType to something like "application/ms-word", and then setting the “content-disposition” of Response.AddHeader to “attachment”. However, this opens a “save as” dialog. What I need to do is to save the file directly into a directory on the server (so that I can do some further operations on it).

Best Answer

You just need this:

File.WriteAllBytes(
     Path.Combine(Server.MapPath("/temp_folder"), "YourFileName.ext"),
     yourByteArray);

Syntax:

ALTER TABLE {TABLENAME} 
ADD {COLUMNNAME} {TYPE} {NULL|NOT NULL} 
CONSTRAINT {CONSTRAINT_NAME} DEFAULT {DEFAULT_VALUE}
WITH VALUES

Example:

ALTER TABLE SomeTable
        ADD SomeCol Bit NULL --Or NOT NULL.
 CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol --When Omitted a Default-Constraint Name is autogenerated.
    DEFAULT (0)--Optional Default-Constraint.
WITH VALUES --Add if Column is Nullable and you want the Default Value for Existing Records.

Notes:

Optional Constraint Name:
If you leave out CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol then SQL Server will autogenerate
a Default-Contraint with a funny Name like: DF__SomeTa__SomeC__4FB7FEF6

Optional With-Values Statement:
The WITH VALUES is only needed when your Column is Nullable
and you want the Default Value used for Existing Records.
If your Column is NOT NULL, then it will automatically use the Default Value
for all Existing Records, whether you specify WITH VALUES or not.

How Inserts work with a Default-Constraint:
If you insert a Record into SomeTable and do not Specify SomeCol's value, then it will Default to 0.
If you insert a Record and Specify SomeCol's value as NULL (and your column allows nulls),
then the Default-Constraint will not be used and NULL will be inserted as the Value.

Notes were based on everyone's great feedback below.
Special Thanks to:
@Yatrix, @WalterStabosz, @YahooSerious, and @StackMan for their Comments.

Sql-server – “with (nolock)” in SQL Server

WITH (NOLOCK) is the equivalent of using READ UNCOMMITED as a transaction isolation level. So, you stand the risk of reading an uncommitted row that is subsequently rolled back, i.e. data that never made it into the database. So, while it can prevent reads being deadlocked by other operations, it comes with a risk. In a banking application with high transaction rates, it's probably not going to be the right solution to whatever problem you're trying to solve with it IMHO.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Sql – Add a column with a default value to an existing table in SQL Server

Syntax:

Example:

Notes:

Sql-server – “with (nolock)” in SQL Server

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