Earlier this year we walked through how to work with BLOBs in Oracle SQL Developer. So you already know how to INSERT, UPDATE and view the BLOBs stored in your tables.

But now I want to show you how to include those images in your PDF reports. You know how to work with SQL Developer reports, right? No? OK, let’s do a quick run down memory lane then:

• How to Build a Bar Chart
• Child reports – click on parent record for on-the-fly children records

Alright, so if you have a GRID report that contains a BLOB column, you have the option of including the BLOB contents when you create a PDF export:

At design time, specify how you want the BLOB content to be treated when you export to PDF

Note that you must specify the treatment of the BLOBs in the report design. You won’t be prompted when you launch the Export wizard dialog.

When you open your PDF, there will be a link to the image. Click it.

Click then confirm.

It will launch the default image viewer on your machine.

I hope your pictures are more excited than mine.