mysql - How I save and retrieve an image on my server in a java webapp

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Answer 1

instead of writing it to my C drive I'm going to run it on the server, but where should I store the image to later retriev and display in an xhtml file?

That depends on how much control you have over configuring the server. Ideal would be to configure a fixed path outside the Tomcat webapps folder. For example, /var/webapp/upload. You can set this path as a VM argument or environment variable so that your webapp can retrieve it programmatically without the need to change the code.

For example, when specifying as VM argument -Dupload.location=/var/webapp/upload, you can complete the upload as follows:

Path folder = Paths.get(System.getProperty("upload.location"));
String filename = FilenameUtils.getBaseName(uploadedFile.getName()); 
String extension = FilenameUtils.getExtension(uploadedFile.getName());
Path file = Files.createTempFile(folder, filename + "-", "." + extension);

try (InputStream input = uploadedFile.getInputStream()) {
    Files.copy(input, file, StandardCopyOption.REPLACE_EXISTING);
}

String uploadedFileName = file.getFileName().toString();
// Now store it in DB.

As to serving the file back, most ideal would be to add the upload location as a separate <Context> to Tomcat. E.g.

<Context docBase="/var/webapp/upload" path="/uploads" />

This way you can access it directly by http://example.com/uploads/foo-123456.ext

If you have zero control over configuring the server, then, well, storing in the DB or sending to a 3rd party host such as Amazon S3 is your best bet.

See also:

• How to provide relative path in File class to upload any file?
• Reliable data serving