tamaguchi has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hello fellow perlmonks. I have a problem I want to store a binary image like .gif or .jpg in a string in a script so that when I run the script the image will be created. I have tried store the content of a jpg file in a string and print it out in a new file but it is not working any suggestions how to do this? I tried among other things the code bellow which is not working: 
 
#!/usr/bin/perl -w

my $file = "blopp.gif";

binmode STDOUT;

$var='GIF89a                  
+   !   ,               %IT8˴y`4EPT|oUF ;'
+;

open(OUTFILE, '>blopp.gif') or die "Could not open blopp.gif"; 

print OUTFILE $var;

close(OUTFILE);

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Re: Store image in string
by GrandFather (Saint) on Mar 14, 2011 at 02:18 UTC

    You can't do that like that. Most image file formats are binary files with a particular structure that can't be directly represented in Perl. It is possible however to encode images files using base64 or similar schemes and decode back to an internal binary form for use as a binary image file:

    use strict;  
use warnings;
use MIME::Base64 qw();

my $image64 = <<IMAGE64;
R0lGODlhQQA8APcAAAAAAAAAMwAAZgAAmQAAzAAA/wArAAArMwArZgArmQArzAAr/wBVAA
+BVMwBV
ZgBVmQBVzABV/wCAAACAMwCAZgCAmQCAzACA/wCqAACqMwCqZgCqmQCqzACq/wDVAADVMw
+DVZgDV
mQDVzADV/wD/AAD/MwD/ZgD/mQD/zAD//zMAADMAMzMAZjMAmTMAzDMA/zMrADMrMzMrZj
+MrmTMr
zDMr/zNVADNVMzNVZjNVmTNVzDNV/zOAADOAMzOAZjOAmTOAzDOA/zOqADOqMzOqZjOqmT
+OqzDOq
/zPVADPVMzPVZjPVmTPVzDPV/zP/ADP/MzP/ZjP/mTP/zDP//2YAAGYAM2YAZmYAmWYAzG
+YA/2Yr
AGYrM2YrZmYrmWYrzGYr/2ZVAGZVM2ZVZmZVmWZVzGZV/2aAAGaAM2aAZmaAmWaAzGaA/2
+aqAGaq
M2aqZmaqmWaqzGaq/2bVAGbVM2bVZmbVmWbVzGbV/2b/AGb/M2b/Zmb/mWb/zGb//5kAAJ
+kAM5kA
ZpkAmZkAzJkA/5krAJkrM5krZpkrmZkrzJkr/5lVAJlVM5lVZplVmZlVzJlV/5mAAJmAM5
+mAZpmA
mZmAzJmA/5mqAJmqM5mqZpmqmZmqzJmq/5nVAJnVM5nVZpnVmZnVzJnV/5n/AJn/M5n/Zp
+n/mZn/
zJn//8wAAMwAM8wAZswAmcwAzMwA/8wrAMwrM8wrZswrmcwrzMwr/8xVAMxVM8xVZsxVmc
+xVzMxV
/8yAAMyAM8yAZsyAmcyAzMyA/8yqAMyqM8yqZsyqmcyqzMyq/8zVAMzVM8zVZszVmczVzM
+zV/8z/
AMz/M8z/Zsz/mcz/zMz///8AAP8AM/8AZv8Amf8AzP8A//8rAP8rM/8rZv8rmf8rzP8r//
+9VAP9V
M/9VZv9Vmf9VzP9V//+AAP+AM/+AZv+Amf+AzP+A//+qAP+qM/+qZv+qmf+qzP+q///VAP
+/VM//V
Zv/Vmf/VzP/V////AP//M///Zv//mf//zP///wAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACH5BAEAAPwALAAAAA
+BBADwA
AAj/AA8AABDjwAoDAA7GIBgAxsIYCw3eiKGiYAyHCiEegEjQIkeIMQyo2Nixo8CHA0dqgT
+hSTMeJ
Gy82vBjjxsEwGkE6zLkwzEuQMQLcCNMwgIGDKwAcGDkwpkiBMJYudTiyJsgAQGOsuKFi4s
+edQA2I
6br1wJaoIAFEdbj0IoCiBN/C8Nr2KMEDOGN69IrDaladfSV1DQux6A2hC8XAiHtj54qHIb
+cO3RIT
LMStf29shAkxb9aKBGFsXbE4wECUOS1fhjgU5NAbE2+I8es1Rt8YYrzWtqhZY1y8BeNa7V
+gwjAGI
BnYTFxNmy+wYW6DjiD4RZ+e/xit+PP5ReEcYimdv/42e1WsYHLNjz85tlb3V235x60wLOQ
+bO41Wx
WjZwu28YGXyBZF1NYawnn4Dm/WUVdxzZVV8YMe1mH0TP2cccbjf4J4NtYcg2FA7WyYBTAD
+hUFx9I
xxl0AHcATKTagB7KZqFsudUYAxoF4ubcgTiJgcNOvf0lnIM1PeYUbrOhR+EWHm4hiRjMcY
+Ekh+h9
uJ6HE0LEJHJATaRCR8cpFQZOYaxQYmew5VYlIzeImGGBOIrBpJw52lhgeuexFoB1E5G20V
+EKxocT
Ixsy0uMNXNAIpaI1+pibc4dCOduA8rUYHRqPVeVihFqqN1SjuUly56jMicEmnI5atSWTAP
+6Fl3UH
7P+EFVA4tXmhh8zhIImIpS5aKhqSFijshZPYBx+lMSyyoYsrxMoaZriJKh2pUD4JJbDYSu
+qrGE8+
GWdtN2xZE3cM+jUpRJKABOIk/9UIp7XAhvHkMGJkW++9n5YarrpApZcReDTlxueFpGbCSJ
+ySYHKv
t5LEK0YmzFkL5XliNEIjGuLuBl+FEwHInAw1ooEGo5OgwUgakjQ8CcSSTCJJJhKLfG+pHd
+a0o4w0
0WSZjHI+DCUjII7ByJMKd8vtJCi/3HAmaLhcr8Te+khxllbpBSSZBNYo250Lo0EvGpKkMb
+TLmYwh
idBMA8vty9oWuLVtz/XI1gEci8jhldzK1rDZ9ab/4XIaYKcxzMoNh90yxNc2DCyIV0IEn2
+32ETQx
hc3hmkkYY6hdtCSMwDxJySmnnMngYoC+8M++Hks1TbGxZqyPjDC3db0mmwx4JpNgUvLnfi
+PdssoN
3+two1jedkNH1uWIIalPpgHzwYB3/rnnYGeiu8oQo2Ewy2Jgksad8q0Hg/H9IinbnE+iB2
+/pQ3dP
eL2fDw4zxDA30vTMjAqMoesgQTmXf0iaWKmAlwnAfS5lzltZJjxHNpSRzWgmuwGOkDQ88r
+AublCq
yaeAlYajAW8Sw1jg71bWOeq1DGzXUtvRTCUj67iHUq3pi6TgJYlhqEwMw9De58iGO9257I
+e7Y9oP
/4V3pxscTGo1iRtstvAfYRXIWndCgwObBrYS4m4YIVTg9ObXPimmLFjAGoawDpSZGLAJPR
+PzVvsK
90PPhfCKuFvZ9cTmQEmpbXEFKhb/GpOgR9FMhQs8WtNQJkKX9eKKuvNa015WsmzFaXK5eQ
+1mnrOl
cBHPjswpWelE17Lpaa+GhNvhJ0tGr2vVKwyIK9CG3IMuntFoWFGsVu6ACDMdajGEi/whCn
+f5JHZJ
6kcgypJXWEUmNMYLhVHDndfimLIsttFzLSud01DlNtlVqDyuk1NrFCbADubyd0pjJiMZCb
+q0mTJX
1ZzOk1qnKjPCZjr34hoygQW66U1Pd7hjpMyadv9EnzmqR+DDmhFdE4ZEbQE9d8ykyA4Itg
+fW04ah
lEQv0NAIhZnuVxhyk+Mek5lqDutXpQsDFUv4MOkJUZ+1DBu37HieHIWBTSBBQ3xMRKMASn
+BmYdid
4Vam05X5rGUnm8TMTjmxYC5qSzBcQY/SQyMaGbOX1xPZwf6WMsIZsKHB4yaNKnkgr7DHIf
+7pkEEZ
1yvEmfJwnZtiLwsnhswFLwzezFUMPOaXvljmRTKEzfqahjtuoQx+gfNnybJXLQFWq2a54Y
+JDkMU/
AWUwUWQFqV/X9lcsioxzRntYS/0Hz2wWpFlW8WrW7MMoYSF0fTccago1mdNFico914TI+D
+jKJ8f/
2cdjn8pQYSdxg+AxrHYo2+dKtZaoxGIsQ5lB3ni0ZJtwgahEhsKR+tDAhXNq67pFLFVG+e
+UaBqFl
I9Rx3Za4sNRX3lGFIsWWwx4pKfPU6jKNCQpbOMoTx+ImTmpDVa/kJYbvDVdtr3whhRDVmo
+KooC8V
QQtjWQOi/4QrRjQTXq+Cpd13MqlHiTqRX1KkggI5RELYWSWUSqTdRulXt0+aUAZhEz4QR0
+YitCGt
ijuUnhi89mcechvEAiojnLnUR4SZyV1UcxbmQs6+WzuPbID2KJkCayi8SqKGFQQT0CQlZ3
+oBkVla
R7eJoAFATCxxqcRVYwWNqTPc0U5FjmOA4+injDYwaM5sUqxdY9WJxknUV49Yk6P9PAY2My
+FJUEiz
Gqrtpja6GrDb5FOrCpWoTDCqCXEW8meCHEUkOWHQpAM1oB3lCFFdtSBIDtCntCgGOQopSk
+hYsmqH
gAU8QKKQhieiP/4tekyPmYtrjFKfkSzmInoBLZj2wqTYkAc20ApteSy4kY1UhSYHMU1kCB
+IQADs=
IMAGE64

open my $gifOut, '>', "image.gif" or die "Can't create image file: $!\
+n";
binmode $gifOut;
print $gifOut MIME::Base64::decode ($image64);
close $gifOut;

    [download]
    True laziness is hard work
[reply]
[d/l]
Re: Store image in string
by kejohm (Hermit) on Mar 14, 2011 at 02:21 UTC

    You could store the image data encoded as something like Base64, and then decode it when you print it to file, like this:

    #!perl
use strict;
use warnings;

use MIME::Base64;

my $data = < base64-encoded data here >;

open my $outfile, '>', 'file.gif' or die $!;

binmode $outfile;

print {$outfile} decode_base64($data);

close $outfile;

    [download]

    See the MIME::Base64 manpage for information about Base64 encoding, as well as examples of encoding files.

    Update: Oops, sorry Grandfather, you were too quick for me.

    Another Update: Link fixed.

[reply]
[d/l]

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