Presenting MOV-files and images from a DB

[K Viltersten]

I'd like to build up a HTML-document using
a database BUT the tricky part is that one
of the elements is a MOV-file. The other
three, four are GIF-files.

Is such data storable in a database at
all? Or would it be more suitable to
create dynamic anchors to a directory
where all the MOV's and GIF's are put?

I'm imaging that when a request like:
http://localhost/fileID_A3DF.aspx
is issued, the document created will be
something like:

<other stuff>
<img src="A3DF.gif>
<embed src = "A3DF.mov" height = 135
width = 155></embed>
<other stuff>

I'm assuming that a part of the file name,
namely "fileID_A3DF.aspx", can easily be
extracted and its four last characters
used as an in-parameter, i.e. "A3DF" in a
call to a database.

Please comment if you can suggest any
improvements to that approach.

--
Regards
Konrad Viltersten
--------------------------------
sleep - a substitute for coffee for the poor
ambition - lack of sense to be lazy

[Mark Rae [MVP]]

"K Viltersten" <tm...@viltersten.com> wrote in message
news:67k035F...@mid.individual.net...

> I'd like to build up a HTML-document using a database BUT the tricky part
> is that one
> of the elements is a MOV-file. The other three, four are GIF-files.

OK.

> Is such data storable in a database at all?

Yes,

> Or would it be more suitable to create dynamic anchors to a directory
> where all the MOV's and GIF's are put?

"Suitable" is perhaps the wrong adjective... There are arguments both for
and against storing binary files in databases. I tend to avoid doing it, but
that's just a personal preference...

> I'm assuming that a part of the file name,
> namely "fileID_A3DF.aspx", can easily be
> extracted and its four last characters used as an in-parameter, i.e.
> "A3DF" in a
> call to a database.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.path.getfilenamewithoutextension.aspx
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.string.substring.aspx

--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

[OHM ( One Handed Man )]

If you feel you must store the object in the database, you can set up a http
handler which will stream the data back to the HTML page, this is fairly
easy to do.

"Mark Rae [MVP]" <ma...@markNOSPAMrae.net> wrote in message
news:OC5IPtJ...@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

[Peter Bromberg [C# MVP]]

You might want to look at the VirtualPathProvider class and concept. This
allows you to serve an ASP.NET web site from a database, or even from a ZIP
file.

-- Peter
To be a success, arm yourself with the tools you need and learn how to use
them.

Site: http://www.eggheadcafe.com
http://petesbloggerama.blogspot.com
http://ittyurl.net

[K Viltersten]

> You might want to look at the VirtualPathProvider class and
> concept. This allows you to serve an ASP.NET web site
> from a database, or even from a ZIP file.

Thanks for the help. I'd like to get a clarification on a part of
it, though. Which of the following two approaches would be
more suitable, would you say?

1. To distract the key for DB from the file name.
http://localhost/fileID_A3DF.aspx

or

2. To get the key as an explicit argument.
http://localhost/fileID.aspx?key=A3DF

Please advise.

[Alexey Smirnov]

On Apr 28, 6:38 am, "K Viltersten" <t...@viltersten.com> wrote:
> > You might want to look at the VirtualPathProvider class and
> > concept. This allows you to serve an ASP.NET web site
> > from a database, or even from a ZIP file.
>
> Thanks for the help. I'd like to get a clarification on a part of
> it, though. Which of the following two approaches would be
> more suitable, would you say?
>
> 1. To distract the key for DB from the file name.
>    http://localhost/fileID_A3DF.aspx

Here you would need to implement an URL rewriting technique
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=asp.net+URL+rewrite

>
> 2. To get the key as an explicit argument.
>    http://localhost/fileID.aspx?key=A3DF
>

This will work by default.

[K Viltersten]

>> Thanks for the help. I'd like to get a
>> clarification on a part of it, though.
>> Which of the following two approaches
>> would be more suitable, would you say?
>>
>> 1. To distract the key for DB from the file name.
>> http://localhost/fileID_A3DF.aspx
>
> Here you would need to implement an URL rewriting technique
> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=asp.net+URL+rewrite
>
>> 2. To get the key as an explicit argument.
>> http://localhost/fileID.aspx?key=A3DF
>
> This will work by default.

In that case, this'll be the method i'll
use. Why complicate thing? Thanks!