Create Client Applications for FILESTREAM Data
Applies to: 
SQL Server
You can use Win32 APIs to read and write data to a FILESTREAM BLOB. The following steps are required:
Read the FILESTREAM file path.
Read the current transaction context.
Obtain a Win32 handle and use the handle to read and write data to the FILESTREAM BLOB.
Note
The examples in this topic require the FILESTREAM-enabled database and table that are created in Create a FILESTREAM-Enabled Database and Create a Table for Storing FILESTREAM Data.
Functions for Working with FILESTREAM Data
When you use FILESTREAM to store binary large object (BLOB) data, you can use Win32 APIs to work with the files. To support working with FILESTREAM BLOB data in Win32 applications, SQL Server provides the following functions and API:
PathName returns a path as a token to a BLOB. An application uses this token to obtain a Win32 handle and operate on BLOB data.
When the database that contains FILESTREAM data belongs to an Always On availability group, then the PathName function returns a virtual network name (VNN) instead of a computer name.
GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT() returns a token that represents the current transaction of a session. An application uses this token to bind FILESTREAM file system streaming operations to the transaction.
The OpenSqlFilestream API obtains a Win32 file handle. The application uses the handle to stream the FILESTREAM data, and can then pass the handle to the following Win32 APIs: ReadFile, WriteFile, TransmitFile, SetFilePointer, SetEndOfFile, or FlushFileBuffers. If the application calls any other API by using the handle, an ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED error is returned. The application should close the handle by using CloseHandle.
All FILESTREAM data container access is performed in a SQL Server transaction. Transact-SQL statements can be executed in the same transaction to maintain consistency between SQL data and FILESTREAM data.
Steps for Accessing FILESTREAM Data
Reading the FILESTREAM File Path
Each cell in a FILESTREAM table has a file path that is associated with it. To read the path, use the PathName property of a varbinary(max) column in a Transact-SQL statement. The following example shows how to read the file path of a varbinary(max) column.
DECLARE @filePath VARCHAR(MAX);
SELECT @filePath = Chart.PathName()
FROM Archive.dbo.Records
WHERE SerialNumber = 3;
PRINT @filepath;
Reading the Transaction Context
To obtain the current transaction context, use the Transact-SQL GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT() function. The following example shows how to begin a transaction and read the current transaction context.
DECLARE @txContext VARBINARY(MAX);
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
SELECT @txContext = GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT();
PRINT @txContext;
COMMIT;
Obtaining a Win32 File Handle
To obtain a Win32 file handle, call the OpenSqlFilestream API. This API is exported from the sqlncli.dll file. The returned handle can be passed to any of the following Win32 APIs: ReadFile, WriteFile, TransmitFile, SetFilePointer, SetEndOfFile, or FlushFileBuffers. The following examples show you how to obtain a Win32 File handle and use it to read and write data to a FILESTREAM BLOB.
using System.IO;
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Data.SqlTypes;
namespace FILESTREAM
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
SqlConnection sqlConnection = new SqlConnection(
"Integrated Security=true;server=(local)");
SqlCommand sqlCommand = new SqlCommand();
sqlCommand.Connection = sqlConnection;
try
{
sqlConnection.Open();
//The first task is to retrieve the file path
//of the SQL FILESTREAM BLOB that we want to
//access in the application.
sqlCommand.CommandText =
"SELECT Chart.PathName()"
+ " FROM Archive.dbo.Records"
+ " WHERE SerialNumber = 3";
String filePath = null;
Object pathObj = sqlCommand.ExecuteScalar();
if (DBNull.Value != pathObj)
filePath = (string)pathObj;
else
{
throw new System.Exception(
"Chart.PathName() failed"
+ " to read the path name "
+ " for the Chart column.");
}
//The next task is to obtain a transaction
//context. All FILESTREAM BLOB operations
//occur within a transaction context to
//maintain data consistency.
//All SQL FILESTREAM BLOB access must occur in
//a transaction. MARS-enabled connections
//have specific rules for batch scoped transactions,
//which the Transact-SQL BEGIN TRANSACTION statement
//violates. To avoid this issue, client applications
//should use appropriate API facilities for transaction management,
//management, such as the SqlTransaction class.
SqlTransaction transaction = sqlConnection.BeginTransaction("mainTranaction");
sqlCommand.Transaction = transaction;
sqlCommand.CommandText =
"SELECT GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT()";
Object obj = sqlCommand.ExecuteScalar();
byte[] txContext = (byte[])obj;
//The next step is to obtain a handle that
//can be passed to the Win32 FILE APIs.
SqlFileStream sqlFileStream = new SqlFileStream(filePath, txContext, FileAccess.ReadWrite);
byte[] buffer = new byte[512];
int numBytes = 0;
//Write the string, "EKG data." to the FILESTREAM BLOB.
//In your application this string would be replaced with
//the binary data that you want to write.
string someData = "EKG data.";
Encoding unicode = Encoding.GetEncoding(0);
sqlFileStream.Write(unicode.GetBytes(someData.ToCharArray()),
0,
someData.Length);
//Read the data from the FILESTREAM
//BLOB.
sqlFileStream.Seek(0L, SeekOrigin.Begin);
numBytes = sqlFileStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
string readData = unicode.GetString(buffer);
if (numBytes != 0)
Console.WriteLine(readData);
//Because reading and writing are finished, FILESTREAM
//must be closed. This closes the c# FileStream class,
//but does not necessarily close the underlying
//FILESTREAM handle.
sqlFileStream.Close();
//The final step is to commit or roll back the read and write
//operations that were performed on the FILESTREAM BLOB.
sqlCommand.Transaction.Commit();
}
catch (System.Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
}
finally
{
sqlConnection.Close();
}
return;
}
}
}
Imports System.IO
Imports System
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Data
Imports System.Data.SqlClient
Imports System.Data.SqlTypes
Module Module1
Public Sub Main(ByVal args As String())
' Dim sqlConnection As New SqlConnection("Integrated Security=true;server=(local)")
Dim sqlConnection As New SqlConnection("Integrated Security=true;server=kellyreyue\MSSQL1")
Dim sqlCommand As New SqlCommand()
sqlCommand.Connection = sqlConnection
Try
sqlConnection.Open()
'The first task is to retrieve the file path
'of the SQL FILESTREAM BLOB that we want to
'access in the application.
sqlCommand.CommandText = "SELECT Chart.PathName()" + " FROM Archive.dbo.Records" + " WHERE SerialNumber = 3"
Dim filePath As String = Nothing
Dim pathObj As Object = sqlCommand.ExecuteScalar()
If Not pathObj.Equals(DBNull.Value) Then
filePath = DirectCast(pathObj, String)
Else
Throw New System.Exception("Chart.PathName() failed" + " to read the path name " + " for the Chart column.")
End If
'The next task is to obtain a transaction
'context. All FILESTREAM BLOB operations
'occur within a transaction context to
'maintain data consistency.
'All SQL FILESTREAM BLOB access must occur in
'a transaction. MARS-enabled connections
'have specific rules for batch scoped transactions,
'which the Transact-SQL BEGIN TRANSACTION statement
'violates. To avoid this issue, client applications
'should use appropriate API facilities for transaction management,
'management, such as the SqlTransaction class.
Dim transaction As SqlTransaction = sqlConnection.BeginTransaction("mainTranaction")
sqlCommand.Transaction = transaction
sqlCommand.CommandText = "SELECT GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT()"
Dim obj As Object = sqlCommand.ExecuteScalar()
Dim txContext As Byte() = Nothing
Dim contextLength As UInteger
If Not obj.Equals(DBNull.Value) Then
txContext = DirectCast(obj, Byte())
contextLength = txContext.Length()
Else
Dim message As String = "GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT() failed"
Throw New System.Exception(message)
End If
'The next step is to obtain a handle that
'can be passed to the Win32 FILE APIs.
Dim sqlFileStream As New SqlFileStream(filePath, txContext, FileAccess.ReadWrite)
Dim buffer As Byte() = New Byte(511) {}
Dim numBytes As Integer = 0
'Write the string, "EKG data." to the FILESTREAM BLOB.
'In your application this string would be replaced with
'the binary data that you want to write.
Dim someData As String = "EKG data."
Dim unicode As Encoding = Encoding.GetEncoding(0)
sqlFileStream.Write(unicode.GetBytes(someData.ToCharArray()), 0, someData.Length)
'Read the data from the FILESTREAM
'BLOB.
sqlFileStream.Seek(0, SeekOrigin.Begin)
numBytes = sqlFileStream.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)
Dim readData As String = unicode.GetString(buffer)
If numBytes <> 0 Then
Console.WriteLine(readData)
End If
'Because reading and writing are finished, FILESTREAM
'must be closed. This closes the c# FileStream class,
'but does not necessarily close the underlying
'FILESTREAM handle.
sqlFileStream.Close()
'The final step is to commit or roll back the read and write
'operations that were performed on the FILESTREAM BLOB.
sqlCommand.Transaction.Commit()
Catch ex As System.Exception
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString())
Finally
sqlConnection.Close()
End Try
Return
End Sub
End Module
#include <windows.h>
#include <sql.h>
#include<sqltypes.h>
#include<sqlext.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <msodbcsql.h>
#define COPYBUFFERSIZE 4096
/// <summary>
///This class iterates though the ODBC error queue and prints all of the
///accumulated error messages to the console.
/// </summary>
class ODBCErrors
{
private:
int m_iLine; //Source code line on which the error occurred
SQLSMALLINT m_type; //Type of handle on which the error occurred
SQLHANDLE m_handle; //ODBC handle on which the error occurred
public:
/// <summary>
///Default constructor for the ODBCErrors class
///</summary>
ODBCErrors()
{
m_iLine = -1;
m_type = 0;
m_handle = SQL_NULL_HANDLE;
}
/// <summary>
///Constructor for the ODBCErrors class
/// </summary>
/// <param name="iLine">
/// This parameter is the source code line
/// at which the error occurred.
///</param>
/// <param name="type">
/// This parameter is the type of ODBC handle passed in
/// the next parameter.
///</param>
/// <param name="handle">
/// This parameter is the handle on which the error occurred.
///</param>
ODBCErrors(int iLine, SQLSMALLINT type, SQLHANDLE handle)
{
m_iLine = iLine;
m_type = type;
m_handle = handle;
}
///<summary>
/// This method iterates though the error stack for the handle passed
/// into the constructor and displays those errors on the console.
///</summary>
void Print()
{
SQLSMALLINT i = 0, len = 0;
SQLINTEGER native;
SQLTCHAR state[9], text[256];
SQLRETURN sqlReturn = SQL_SUCCESS;
if ( m_handle == SQL_NULL_HANDLE )
{
wprintf_s(TEXT("The error handle is not a valid handle.\n"), m_iLine);
return;
}
wprintf_s(TEXT("Error Line(%d)\n"), m_iLine);
while( sqlReturn == SQL_SUCCESS )
{
len = 0;
sqlReturn = SQLGetDiagRec(
m_type,
m_handle,
++i,
state,
&native,
text,
sizeof(text)/sizeof(SQLTCHAR),
&len);
if ( SQL_SUCCEEDED(sqlReturn) )
wprintf_s(TEXT("Error(%d, %ld, %s) : %s\n"), i, native, state, text);
}
}
};
BOOL CopyFileToSQL(LPTSTR srcFilePath, LPTSTR dstFilePath, LPBYTE transactionToken, SQLINTEGER cbTransactionToken)
{
BOOL bRetCode = FALSE;
HANDLE srcHandle = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
HANDLE dstHandle = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE;
BYTE buffer[COPYBUFFERSIZE] = { 0 };
TCHAR *szErrMsgSrc = TEXT("Error opening source file.");
TCHAR *szErrMsgDst = TEXT("Error opening destFile file.");
TCHAR *szErrMsgRead = TEXT("Error reading source file.");
TCHAR *szErrMsgWrite = TEXT("Error writing SQL file.");
try
{
if ( (srcHandle = CreateFile(
srcFilePath,
GENERIC_READ,
FILE_SHARE_READ,
NULL,
OPEN_EXISTING,
FILE_FLAG_SEQUENTIAL_SCAN,
NULL)) == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE )
throw szErrMsgSrc;
if ( (dstHandle = OpenSqlFilestream(
dstFilePath,
Write,
0,
transactionToken,
cbTransactionToken,
0)) == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
throw szErrMsgDst;
DWORD bytesRead = 0;
DWORD bytesWritten = 0;
do
{
if ( ReadFile(srcHandle, buffer, COPYBUFFERSIZE, &bytesRead, NULL) == 0 )
throw szErrMsgRead;
if (bytesRead > 0)
{
if ( WriteFile(dstHandle, buffer, bytesRead, &bytesWritten, NULL) == 0 )
throw szErrMsgWrite;
}
} while (bytesRead > 0);
bRetCode = TRUE;
}
catch( TCHAR *szErrMsg )
{
wprintf_s(szErrMsg);
bRetCode = FALSE;
}
if ( srcHandle != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE )
CloseHandle(srcHandle);
if ( dstHandle != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE )
CloseHandle(dstHandle);
return bRetCode;
}
void main()
{
TCHAR *sqlDBQuery =
TEXT("INSERT INTO Archive.dbo.Records(Id, SerialNumber, Chart)")
TEXT(" OUTPUT GET_FILESTREAM_TRANSACTION_CONTEXT(), inserted.Chart.PathName()")
TEXT("VALUES (newid (), 5, CONVERT(VARBINARY, '**Temp**'))");
SQLCHAR transactionToken[32];
SQLHANDLE henv = SQL_NULL_HANDLE;
SQLHANDLE hdbc = SQL_NULL_HANDLE;
SQLHANDLE hstmt = SQL_NULL_HANDLE;
try
{
//These statements Initialize ODBC for the client application and
//connect to the database.
if ( SQLAllocHandle(SQL_HANDLE_ENV, SQL_NULL_HANDLE, &henv) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_ENV, henv);
if ( SQLSetEnvAttr(henv, SQL_ATTR_ODBC_VERSION,(void*)SQL_OV_ODBC3, NULL) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_ENV, henv);
if ( SQLAllocHandle(SQL_HANDLE_DBC, henv, &hdbc) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_ENV, henv);
//This code assumes that the dataset name "Sql Server FILESTREAM"
//has been previously created on the client computer system. An
//ODBC DSN is created with the ODBC Data Source item in
//the Windows Control Panel.
if ( SQLConnect(hdbc, TEXT("Sql Server FILESTREAM"),
SQL_NTS, NULL, 0, NULL, 0) <= 0 )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_DBC, hdbc);
//FILESTREAM requires that all read and write operations occur
//within a transaction.
if ( SQLSetConnectAttr(hdbc,
SQL_ATTR_AUTOCOMMIT,
(SQLPOINTER)SQL_AUTOCOMMIT_OFF,
SQL_IS_UINTEGER) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_DBC, hdbc);
if ( SQLAllocHandle(SQL_HANDLE_STMT, hdbc, &hstmt) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_DBC, hdbc);
if ( SQLExecDirect(hstmt, sqlDBQuery, SQL_NTS) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_STMT, hstmt);
//Retrieve the transaction token.
if ( SQLFetch(hstmt) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_STMT, hstmt);
SQLINTEGER cbTransactionToken = sizeof(transactionToken);
if ( SQLGetData(hstmt, 1,
SQL_C_BINARY,
transactionToken,
sizeof(transactionToken),
&cbTransactionToken) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_STMT, hstmt);
//Retrieve the file path for the inserted record.
TCHAR dstFilePath[1024];
SQLINTEGER cbDstFilePath;
if ( SQLGetData(hstmt, 2, SQL_C_TCHAR, dstFilePath, sizeof(dstFilePath), &cbDstFilePath) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_STMT, hstmt);
if ( SQLCloseCursor(hstmt) != SQL_SUCCESS )
throw new ODBCErrors(__LINE__, SQL_HANDLE_STMT, hstmt);
SQLUSMALLINT mode = SQL_ROLLBACK;
if ( CopyFileToSQL(
TEXT("C:\\Users\\Data\\chart1.jpg"),
dstFilePath,
transactionToken,
cbTransactionToken) == TRUE )
mode = SQL_COMMIT;
SQLTransact(henv, hdbc, mode);
}
catch(ODBCErrors *pErrors)
{
pErrors->Print();
delete pErrors;
}
if ( hstmt != SQL_NULL_HANDLE )
SQLFreeHandle(SQL_HANDLE_STMT, hstmt);
if ( hdbc != SQL_NULL_HANDLE )
SQLDisconnect(hdbc);
if ( hdbc != SQL_NULL_HANDLE )
SQLFreeHandle(SQL_HANDLE_DBC, hdbc);
if ( henv != SQL_NULL_HANDLE )
SQLFreeHandle(SQL_HANDLE_ENV, henv);
}
Best Practices for Application Design and Implementation
When you are designing and implementing applications that use FILESTREAM, consider the following guidelines:
Use NULL instead of 0x to represent a non-initialized FILESTREAM column. The 0x value causes a file to be created, and NULL does not.
Avoid insert and delete operations in tables that contain nonnull FILESTREAM columns. Insert and delete operations can modify the FILESTREAM tables that are used for garbage collection. This can cause an application's performance to decrease over time.
In applications that use replication, use NEWSEQUENTIALID() instead of NEWID(). NEWSEQUENTIALID() performs better than NEWID() for GUID generation in these applications.
The FILESTREAM API is designed for Win32 streaming access to data. Avoid using Transact-SQL to read or write FILESTREAM binary large objects (BLOBs) that are larger than 2 MB. If you must read or write BLOB data from Transact-SQL, make sure that all BLOB data is consumed before you try to open the FILESTREAM BLOB from Win32. Failure to consume all the Transact-SQL data might cause any successive FILESTREAM open or close operations to fail.
Avoid Transact-SQL statements that update, append or prepend data to the FILESTREAM BLOB. This causes the BLOB data to be spooled into the tempdb database and then back into a new physical file.
Avoid appending small BLOB updates to a FILESTREAM BLOB. Each append causes the underlying FILESTREAM files to be copied. If an application has to append small BLOBs, write the BLOBs into a varbinary(max) column, and then perform a single write operation to the FILESTREAM BLOB when the number of BLOBs reaches a predetermined limit.
Avoid retrieving the data length of lots of BLOB files in an application. This is a time-consuming operation because the size is not stored in the SQL Server Database Engine. If you must determine the length of a BLOB file, use the Transact-SQL DATALENGTH() function to determine the size of the BLOB if it is closed. DATALENGTH() does not open the BLOB file to determine its size.
If an application uses Message Block1 (SMB1) protocol, FILESTREAM BLOB data should be read in 60-KB multiples to optimize performance.
See Also
Avoid Conflicts with Database Operations in FILESTREAM Applications
Access FILESTREAM Data with OpenSqlFilestream
Binary Large Object (Blob) Data (SQL Server)
Make Partial Updates to FILESTREAM Data