Read and Write Blobs

Storing images, documents and other files as blobs offers an efficient and portable alternative to OLE Embedding. Using the code below you can store any type of file as a blob, or extract a blob back to an identical disk file.

Usage Example:

The following examples show how you can use the FileToBlob and BlobToFile functions in a form. The form's record source includes a field named 'Image' of type 'OLE Object'. The implementation of FileToBlob and BlobToFile (below the line) should be placed in a module.

'Read the file 'Image-In.jpg' into the field named 'Image'.
FileToBlob "C:\Photos\Image-In.jpg", [Image]

'Extract the file contained in the field named 'Image' to a file named 'Image-Out.jpg'.
BlobToFile "C:\Photos\Image-Out.jpg", [Image]

'Function:  BlobToFile - Extracts the data in a binary field to a disk file.
'Parameter: strFile - Full path and filename of the destination file.
'Parameter: Field - The field containing the blob.
'Return:    The length of the data extracted.
Public Function BlobToFile(strFile As String, ByRef Field As Object) As Long
    On Error GoTo BlobToFileError

    Dim nFileNum As Integer
    Dim abytData() As Byte
    BlobToFile = 0
    nFileNum = FreeFile
    Open strFile For Binary Access Write As nFileNum
    abytData = Field
    Put #nFileNum, , abytData
    BlobToFile = LOF(nFileNum)

BlobToFileExit:
    If nFileNum > 0 Then Close nFileNum
    Exit Function

BlobToFileError:
    MsgBox "Error " & err.Number & ": " & err.Description, vbCritical, _
           "Error writing file in BlobToFile"
    BlobToFile = 0
    Resume BlobToFileExit

End Function

'Function:  FileToBlob - Loads a file into a binary field.
'Parameter: strFile - Full path and filename of the source file.
'Parameter: Field - The binary field into which the file is to be loaded.
Public Function FileToBlob(strFile As String, ByRef Field As Object)
    On Error GoTo FileToBlobError

    If Len(Dir(strFile)) > 0 Then
        Dim nFileNum As Integer
        Dim byteData() As Byte

        nFileNum = FreeFile()
        Open strFile For Binary Access Read As nFileNum
        If LOF(nFileNum) > 0 Then
            ReDim byteData(1 To LOF(nFileNum))
            Get #nFileNum, , byteData
            Field = byteData
        End If
    Else
        MsgBox "Error: File not found", vbCritical, _
               "Error reading file in FileToBlob"
    End If

FileToBlobExit:
    If nFileNum > 0 Then Close nFileNum
    Exit Function

FileToBlobError:
    MsgBox "Error " & err.Number & ": " & err.Description, vbCritical, _
           "Error reading file in FileToBlob"
    Resume FileToBlobExit

End Function

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