Photo Album Application - Java Spring Boot with Oracle DB

A photo gallery application built with Spring Boot and Oracle Database, featuring drag-and-drop upload, responsive gallery view, and full-size photo details with navigation.

Features

• 📤 Photo Upload: Drag-and-drop or click to upload multiple photos
• 🖼️ Gallery View: Responsive grid layout for browsing uploaded photos
• 🔍 Photo Detail View: Click any photo to view full-size with metadata and navigation
• 📊 Metadata Display: View file size, dimensions, aspect ratio, and upload timestamp
• ⬅️➡️ Photo Navigation: Previous/Next buttons to browse through photos
• ✅ Validation: File type and size validation (JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebP; max 10MB)
• 🗄️ Database Storage: Photo data stored as BLOBs in Oracle Database
• 🗑️ Delete Photos: Remove photos from both gallery and detail views
• 🎨 Modern UI: Clean, responsive design with Bootstrap 5

Technology Stack

• Framework: Spring Boot 2.7.18 (Java 8)
• Database: Oracle Database 21c Express Edition
• Templating: Thymeleaf
• Build Tool: Maven
• Frontend: Bootstrap 5.3.0, Vanilla JavaScript
• Containerization: Docker & Docker Compose

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop installed and running
• Docker Compose (included with Docker Desktop)
• Minimum 4GB RAM available for Oracle DB container

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Azure-Samples/PhotoAlbum-Java.git
   cd PhotoAlbum-Java

2. Start the application:

   # Use docker-compose directly
   docker-compose up --build -d

   This will:

   • Start Oracle Database 21c Express Edition container
   • Build the Java Spring Boot application
   • Start the Photo Album application container
   • Automatically create the database schema using JPA/Hibernate

3. Wait for services to start:

   • Oracle DB takes 2-3 minutes to initialize on first run
   • Application will start once Oracle is healthy

4. Access the application:

   • Open your browser and navigate to: http://localhost:8080
   • The application should be running and ready to use

Services

Oracle Database

• Image: container-registry.oracle.com/database/express:21.3.0-xe
• Ports:
  • 1521 (database) - mapped to host port 1521
  • 5500 (Enterprise Manager) - mapped to host port 5500
• Database: XE (Express Edition)
• Schema: photoalbum
• Username/Password: photoalbum/photoalbum

Photo Album Java Application

• Port: 8080 (mapped to host port 8080)
• Framework: Spring Boot 2.7.18
• Java Version: 8
• Database: Connects to Oracle container
• Photo Storage: All photos stored as BLOBs in database (no file system storage)
• UUID System: Each photo gets a globally unique identifier for cache-busting

Database Setup

The application uses Spring Data JPA with Hibernate for automatic schema management:

1. Automatic Schema Creation: Hibernate automatically creates tables and indexes
2. User Creation: Oracle init scripts create the photoalbum user
3. No Manual Setup Required: Everything is handled automatically

Database Schema

The application creates the following table structure in Oracle:

PHOTOS Table

• ID (VARCHAR2(36), Primary Key, UUID Generated)
• ORIGINAL_FILE_NAME (VARCHAR2(255), Not Null)
• STORED_FILE_NAME (VARCHAR2(255), Not Null)
• FILE_PATH (VARCHAR2(500), Nullable)
• FILE_SIZE (NUMBER, Not Null)
• MIME_TYPE (VARCHAR2(50), Not Null)
• UPLOADED_AT (TIMESTAMP, Not Null, Default SYSTIMESTAMP)
• WIDTH (NUMBER, Nullable)
• HEIGHT (NUMBER, Nullable)
• PHOTO_DATA (BLOB, Not Null)

Indexes

• IDX_PHOTOS_UPLOADED_AT (Index on UPLOADED_AT for chronological queries)

UUID Generation

• Java: UUID.randomUUID().toString() generates unique identifiers
• Benefits: Eliminates browser caching issues, globally unique across databases
• Format: Standard UUID format (36 characters with hyphens)

Storage Architecture

Database BLOB Storage (Current Implementation)

• Photos: Stored as BLOB data directly in the database
• Benefits:
  • No file system dependencies
  • ACID compliance for photo operations
  • Simplified backup and migration
  • Perfect for containerized deployments
• Trade-offs: Database size increases, but suitable for moderate photo volumes

Development

Running Locally (without Docker)

1. Install Oracle Database (or use Oracle XE)
2. Create database user:

   CREATE USER photoalbum IDENTIFIED BY photoalbum;
   GRANT CONNECT, RESOURCE, DBA TO photoalbum;

3. Update application.properties:

   spring.datasource.url=jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:XE
   spring.datasource.username=photoalbum
   spring.datasource.password=photoalbum
   spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=create

4. Run the application:

   mvn spring-boot:run

Building from Source

# Build the JAR file
mvn clean package

# Run the JAR file
java -jar target/photo-album-1.0.0.jar

Troubleshooting

Oracle Database Issues

1. Oracle container won't start:

   # Check container logs
   docker-compose logs oracle-db
   
   # Increase Docker memory allocation to at least 4GB

2. Database connection errors:

   # Verify Oracle is ready
   docker exec -it photoalbum-oracle sqlplus photoalbum/photoalbum@//localhost:1521/XE

3. Permission errors:

   # Check Oracle init scripts ran
   docker-compose logs oracle-db | grep "setup"

Application Issues

1. View application logs:

   docker-compose logs photoalbum-java-app

2. Rebuild application:

   docker-compose up --build

3. Reset database (nuclear option):

   docker-compose down -v
   docker-compose up --build

Stopping the Application

# Stop services
docker-compose down

# Stop and remove all data (including database)
docker-compose down -v

Enterprise Manager (Optional)

Oracle Enterprise Manager is available at http://localhost:5500/em for database administration:

• Username: system
• Password: photoalbum
• Container: XE

Performance Notes

• Oracle XE has limitations (max 2 CPU threads, 2GB RAM, 12GB storage)
• BLOB storage in database impacts performance at scale
• Suitable for development and small-scale deployments

Project Structure

PhotoAlbum/
├── src/                             # Java source code
├── oracle-init/                     # Oracle initialization scripts
├── docker-compose.yml               # Oracle + Application services
├── Dockerfile                       # Application container build
├── pom.xml                          # Maven dependencies and build config
└── README.md                        # Project documentation

Contributing

When contributing to this project:

• Follow Spring Boot best practices
• Maintain database compatibility
• Ensure UI/UX consistency
• Test both local Docker and Azure deployment scenarios
• Update documentation for any architectural changes
• Preserve UUID system integrity
• Add appropriate tests for new features

License

This project is provided as-is for educational and demonstration purposes.