gridview image datasource problem!!!

[Faheem Nadeem]

Hi,

Recently i have faced a problem, which surely i think u guys will hae a solution.

Scenario:

I have a gridview, a picture box and a sql database.

Procedure:

Basically, its a client information entry form which takes in data from a user and stores it in a database and then recalls it in a gridview for administrative purposes.

The userclickes the picture box and gets a picture through a fileopendialog box, which is then converted into a byte array. i have made a client class which takes in all the client information using get/set properties, the image datatype is still unsure (need a little help on that too), then there is a stored procedure written which takes this class parameters and writes them to a database.

on the administrative side a connection is made to the sql server and a reader method is used which returns all the objects in the database and generates a list based on the client class. the class is then fed directly to the gridview as a datasource.

Problems:

Firstly there are no columns defined in gridview, it just takes the returned class and populates on that basis. probelm is with the image column. can u please guide me on storing image from picture box to the database and then retreiving into the gridview.

do i need to define all columns before populating it, and/or add a image column in it. Urgent help is required please.

PictureBox image convertsto byte array.

Sql database table has a field named 'ClientImage" of datatype 'image'

SqlReader method retrieves an object only, so one has to convert back to image 

display this image with other info in gridview.

can u please help me on all these datatypes and how to show image in gridiew. it would be more helpful if i dont have to specify any columns in gridview, and directly populate from datasource.

Thanks in advance!!!!

[Robert]

Hi Faheem,

If you set your class up to return the image in a byte array, the RadGridView should automatically generate the column.

public byte[] ImageData
{
    get
    {
         return _imageData;
    }
}

Here is an alternative way you could retrieve the byte information from the file. (PictureBox.Image.Save proved to be somewhat problematic for me)

Image tmpImage = Image.FromFile(openFileDialog1.FileName);
MemoryStream imageStream = new MemoryStream();
tmpImage.Save(imageStream, ImageFormat.Jpeg);
Byte[] imageData = imageStream.ToArray();

As for the database, I would store the data in a field marked as varbinary(MAX). The image type is going to be removed in future versions of SQL Server (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187993.aspx).

I hope this helps.

- Robert