Store image in string

[tamaguchi]

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          �  ���������������������������������������      
+   !�
   ,               %��I�T8���˴�����y��`�4EP�T|oUF ;'
+;

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

print OUTFILE $var;

close(OUTFILE);

[GrandFather]

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
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+bO41Wx
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xxl0AHcATKTagB7KZqFsudUYAxoF4ubcgTiJgcNOvf0lnIM1PeYUbrOhR+EWHm4hiRjMcY
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Gqrtpja6GrDb5FOrCpWoTDCqCXEW8meCHEUkOWHQpAM1oB3lCFFdtSBIDtCntCgGOQopSk
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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;

[kejohm]

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;

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.