Open PDF stored in Oracle BLOB column tips

Question:

We have a PDF in a BLOB column and when saved on desktop, say as 123.pdf, we are able to open and view the contents correctly.

Now we want to send it to mail recipients as an attachment. Below is the table description and PDF column is BLOB type. Also find the code written so far. I'm receiving mail with PDF attachment but unable to open the file column. When saved the PDF from mail to desktop, it is ZERO bytes.

CREATE TABLE XXCFI.XX_PDF2
(
CUSTOMER_TRX_ID INTEGER,
TRX_NUMBER VARCHAR2(40 BYTE),
WEBSERVICE_RESPONSE_DATA CLOB,
PDF BLOB,
REQUEST_ID INTEGER,
ORDER_NUMBER VARCHAR2(40 BYTE),
CREATION_DATE DATE,
PDF2 BLOB
)


Code :

DECLARE
v_connection utl_smtp.connection;
c_mime_boundary CONSTANT VARCHAR2(256) := '-----AABCDEFBBCCC0123456789DE';
v_clob blob := empty_blob ();
v_len INTEGER;
v_index INTEGER;
l_raw raw(57);
l_len INTEGER := 0;
l_idx INTEGER := 1;
l_trx_id NUMBER;
l_buff_size INTEGER := 57;
l_filename VARCHAR2(20);
BEGIN
dbms_output.put_line(1);
SELECT pdf, customer_trx_id
INTO v_clob,l_trx_id
FROM xx_pdf2
WHERE ROWNUM < 2;

l_filename := l_trx_id || '.pdf';

dbms_output.put_line(2);
v_connection := utl_smtp.open_connection('outbound.mycompany.com',25);
utl_smtp.helo(v_connection,'outbound.mycompany.com');
utl_smtp.mail(v_connection,'noreply@mycompany.com');
utl_smtp.rcpt(v_connection,'abcd@mycompany.com');
utl_smtp.open_data(v_connection);

dbms_output.put_line(3);
utl_smtp.write_data( v_connection, 'From: ' || 'noreply@mycompany.com' || utl_tcp.crlf );
utl_smtp.write_data( v_connection, 'To: '|| 'abcd@mycompany.com' || utl_tcp.crlf );
utl_smtp.write_data(v_connection,'Subject: test subject'|| utl_tcp.crlf);
utl_smtp.write_data(v_connection,'MIME-Version: 3.1'|| utl_tcp.crlf);

dbms_output.put_line(4);
utl_smtp.write_data( v_connection, 'Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="'|| c_mime_boundary|| '"' || utl_tcp.crlf );
utl_smtp.write_data(v_connection,utl_tcp.crlf);
utl_smtp.write_data(v_connection,'This is a multi-part message in MIME format.' || utl_tcp.crlf);

dbms_output.put_line(5);
utl_smtp.write_data( v_connection, '--' || c_mime_boundary|| utl_tcp.crlf );
utl_smtp.write_data(v_connection,'Content-Type: application/pdf'|| utl_tcp.crlf);

dbms_output.put_line(6);
-- Set up attachment header
utl_smtp.write_data(v_connection, 'Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="' || l_filename || '"' || utl_tcp.crlf);
utl_smtp.write_data(v_connection,utl_tcp.crlf);

-- Write attachment contents
dbms_output.put_line(7);
v_len := dbms_lob.getlength(v_clob);
dbms_output.put_line( 7.1 || ' - '|| v_len );

v_index := 1;
dbms_output.put_line(7.2);
WHILE v_index <= v_len LOOP

utl_smtp.write_data( v_connection,dbms_lob.substr(v_clob,64000,v_index) );

v_index := v_index + 64000;
END LOOP;

dbms_output.put_line(9);
--
-- End attachment
utl_smtp.write_data(v_connection,utl_tcp.crlf);
utl_smtp.write_data( v_connection, '--'|| c_mime_boundary || '--'|| utl_tcp.crlf);
dbms_output.put_line(10);
utl_smtp.close_data(v_connection);
utl_smtp.quit(v_connection);
dbms_output.put_line(11);
EXCEPTION
WHEN others THEN
dbms_output.put_line(dbms_utility.format_error_stack);
END;

Answer:  These notes explain how to create, store and retrieve a PDF in an Oracle table columns:

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