PHP image encoding not working - php

Question

I'm trying to encode a .jpg file on my server and send the string back to my android app. The PHP encoding function doesn't seem to be working - I always get a null response.
...
} else if ($tag == 'getPhoto') {
$filePath = $_POST['filePath'];
$filePath = mysql_real_escape_string($filePath);
$photo_str = $db->getPhotoString($filePath);
$photo_str = mysql_real_escape_string($photo_str);
if (!empty($photo_str)) {
echo $photo_str;
} else {
echo 'Something went wrong while retrieving the photo.';
}
}
...
public function getPhotoString($filePath) {
$type = pathinfo($filePath, PATHINFO_EXTENSION);
$photoData = file_get_contents($filePath);
$photo_str = 'data:image/' . $type . ';base64,' . base64_encode($photoData);
// $photo_str = 'test_response';
return $photo_str;
}
I know my filepath is correct because when I change it I get an error that says the file/directory doesn't exist. And, the "test_response" works when I uncomment it. Please help!
UPDATE - relevant android code:
HttpClient httpClient = new DefaultHttpClient();
HttpPost httpPost = new HttpPost(url);
httpPost.setEntity(new UrlEncodedFormEntity(parameters));
HttpResponse response = httpClient.execute(httpPost);
photoString = convertResponseToString(response);
Log.d("string response", photoString);
public String convertResponseToString(HttpResponse response) throws IllegalStateException, IOException{
String res = "";
StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
is = response.getEntity().getContent();
int contentLength = (int) response.getEntity().getContentLength(); //getting content length…..
if (contentLength < 0) {
} else {
byte[] data = new byte[512];
int len = 0;
try {
while (-1 != (len = is.read(data))) {
buffer.append(new String(data, 0, len)); //converting to string and appending to stringbuffer…..
}
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
try {
is.close(); // closing the stream…..
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
res = buffer.toString(); // converting stringbuffer to string…..
}
//System.out.println("Response => " + EntityUtils.toString(response.getEntity()));
return res;
}

Answer 1

This is not an answer, only a suggestion but i'm not able to comment as i don't have enough reputation xD. Anyway, did you try to echo $photoData after
$photoData = file_get_contents($filePath);
to see if it's filled with something? Maybe you get a null result. Also, can you tell me what's $filePath value when taken from $_POST variable and when passed to getPhotoString($filePath) function? I'm thinking about something wrong with mysql_real_escape_string().