store pdf/doc/docs content to db

[eluser]dchankhour[/eluser]
Hi,

I'm looking for a way to store .pdf/.doc/.docx files content into a db. I'm currently using PHP fread which is working fine.

However it is storing strange characters along with the content of the text.

is there a cleaner way of just getting the content of such files.

also, what should be the column type. i'm currently using MediumBlob.


thanks.