Fileupload to Database and Database Encryption

[asgaroth]

Hey there,

i don't want to make some basic discussion on advantages or disadvantages, but would it be possible to make a Module (or change the code) to upload Files directly into the same Database where the form submission data is stored?

I am currently setting up some project for my university and they have kind of a registration form where people will have to add 4 Documents (if available). Question was if i could make it store the Documents inside the DB.

Second question is about Encryption, is it possible to use encryption for the Data Stored in the Database? (I know that MySQL supports encryption natively...).

Thanks in Advance, Asgaroth

[Ben]

Hi Asgaroth,

Great questions! Sorry I'm only getting to them now.

Regarding creating a module to upload files directly into a database, yes you could do this with the upcoming 2.1.0 version, but not with the current (stable) 2.0.6 release. 2.1.0 now lets you create your own "field types", which includes both code to process and store files as well as the front end code for displaying it. The bad news is that unfortunately, 2.1.0 really isn't close to being production-ready yet. I only just released the first upgradable version of the Alpha today.

You could certainly modify the 2.0.6 source to support this, but frankly it would be a pain in the butt - plus it would render your installation incompatible with future upgrades, which is of course never a good idea.

For your second question, I've toyed with the idea of encrypting the DB data but never pursued it very far because personally, I never saw all that much value in it (from a purely pragmatic viewpoint) - but obviously I know it's necessary for compliance with various standards. With Form Tools, the encryption would need to be two-way encrypted so users could actually view and export the data via the interface. This would, of course, require stashing the key somewhere on the server.

The other impediment to adding in encryption is that Form Tools works by letting you specify the storage size for the field. If the data was encrypted, that option would need to be removed from the UI (or disabled at least), because the encrypted version would be of different size from the actual data.

Hmm... but let me give this some more thought! I do understand it would be a nice feature to have, so I'll definitely keep it in mind.

All the best -

Ben