Is it possible to save multiple data to a database column

Question

Hi all i have my database structure as follows

 Field        Type
FileHeader    longblob
BatchHeader   longblob
Entry         longblob
BtchEntry     longblob
FileControl   longblob

I will have the data to be inserted is as follows

101 111111111 1111111111104021031A094101                                                      
52201               1                   1         PPD1         110402110402   1111000020000001
6221110000251                00000000011              1                     1 0111000020000001
822000000100111000020000000000000000000000011                                  111000020000001
52251               1                   1         CCD1         110402110402   1111000020000002
6281110000251                00000000011              1                     1 0111000020000002
822500000100111000020000000000010000000000001                                  111000020000002
9000006000001000000060066600012000000000003000000000003                                    

as you can observe there are multiple lines that starts with 5,6 and 8. I would like to save those individually to the corresponding columns of my table. Is it possible to do if so can any mention the best method to do it. If unclear please specify

The code i written is

 using (StreamReader srRead = new StreamReader(filePath))
    {
        while (srRead.Peek() >= 0)
        {
            strLine = srRead.ReadLine();
            if (strLine.StartsWith("1"))
            {
                strFileHeader = strLine;
            }
            if (strLine.StartsWith("5"))
            {
                strBatchHeader = strLine;
            }
            if (strLine.StartsWith("6"))
            {
                strEntry = strLine;
            }
            if (strLine.StartsWith("8"))
            {
                strBtchcntrl = strLine;
            }
            if (strLine.StartsWith("9"))
            {
                strFileCntrl = strLine;
            }
        }

  string strQuery = "insert into tblfiles(FName, FData,FileHeader,BatchHeader,Entry,BtchEntry,FileControl) values (@_FName,@_FData,@_FileHeader,@_BtchHeader,@_EntryDets,@_BtchCntrl,@_FileCntrl)";
        MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand(strQuery);
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_FName", MySqlDbType.VarChar).Value = filename;
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_FData", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = bytes;
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_FileHeader", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strFileHeader;
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_BtchHeader", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strBatchHeader;
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_EntryDets", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strEntry;
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_BtchCntrl", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strBtchcntrl;
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_FileCntrl", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strFileCntrl;
        InsertUpdateData(cmd);

But this will insert the latest to the DB but i would like to save each and every line as per i stated

Answer 1

No - a column can only store one value per row. You could combine all your batch headers into one blob and store that as a single value, but you would have to be able to split them apart again when your read the data.

Instead - it looks as though:

1. each file starts with a '1' record and ends with a '9' record
2. each file contains zero or more batches
3. each batch starts with a '5' record and ends with an '8' record
4. each batch contains zero or more entries ('6' records)

If that is all correct, then you need 3 tables that would look something like:

File table:

Field         Type
-----------   --------
FileID        integer   # unique file ID - see AUTO_INCREMENT in the MySQL reference
FName         varchar
FData         longblob
FileHeader    longblob  # '1' record
FileControl   longblob  # '9' record

Batch table:

Field         Type
-----------   --------
FileID        integer   # references a row in the File table
BatchID       integer   # unique batch ID
BatchHeader   longblob  # '5' record
BatchControl  longblob  # '8' record

BatchEntry table:

Field         Type
-----------   --------
BatchID       integer   # references a row in the Batch table
EntryId       integer   # unique file ID
Entry         longblob  # '6' record

That should get you started. Good luck.

Answer 2

Why don't you use Stringbuilder and append the required lines to that string builder and write them to the DB instead of using strings. Seperating each column will be a tough one to retrieve the data if you need. So declare a string builder and append the lines to each and every one you required and after all write to the DB

string strFileHeader = string.Empty;
StringBuilder strBatchHeader=new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder strEntry=new StringBuilder();
StringBuilder strBtchcntrl=new StringBuilder();
string strFileCntrl = string.Empty;


using (StreamReader srRead = new StreamReader(filePath))
    {
        while (srRead.Peek() >= 0)
        {
            strLine = srRead.ReadLine();
            if (strLine.StartsWith("1"))
            {
                strFileHeader = strLine;
            }
            if (strLine.StartsWith("5"))
            {

                strBatchHeader.AppendLine(strLine);
            }
            if (strLine.StartsWith("6"))
            {
                strEntry.AppendLine(strLine);
            }
            if (strLine.StartsWith("8"))
            {
                strBtchcntrl.AppendLine(strLine);
            }
            if (strLine.StartsWith("9"))
            {
                strFileCntrl = strLine;
            }
        }

 string strQuery = "insert into tblfiles(FName, FData,FileHeader,BatchHeader,Entry,BtchEntry,FileControl) values (@_FName,@_FData,@_FileHeader,@_BtchHeader,@_EntryDets,@_BtchCntrl,@_FileCntrl)";
        MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand(strQuery);
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_FName", MySqlDbType.VarChar).Value = filename;
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_FData", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = bytes;
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_FileHeader", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strFileHeader;
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_BtchHeader", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strBatchHeader.ToString();
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_EntryDets", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strEntry.ToString();
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_BtchCntrl", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strBtchcntrl.ToString();
        cmd.Parameters.Add("@_FileCntrl", MySqlDbType.LongBlob).Value = strFileCntrl;
        InsertUpdateData(cmd);