SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY (Transact-SQL)
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure Synapse Analytics
Analytics Platform System (PDW)
Returns the base data type and other information about a sql_variant value.
Transact-SQL syntax conventions
Syntax
SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY ( expression , property )
Note
This syntax is not supported by serverless SQL pool in Azure Synapse Analytics.
Arguments
expression
Is an expression of type sql_variant.
property
Contains the name of the sql_variant property for which information is to be provided. property is varchar(128), and can be any one of the following values:
| Value | Description | Base type of sql_variant returned |
|---|---|---|
| BaseType | SQL Server data type, such as: bigint binary bit char date datetime datetime2 datetimeoffset decimal float int money nchar numeric nvarchar real smalldatetime smallint smallmoney time tinyint uniqueidentifier varbinary varchar |
sysname NULL = Input is not valid. |
| Precision | Number of digits of the numeric base data type: date = 10 datetime = 23 datetime2 = 27 datetime2 (s) = 19 when s = 0, else s + 20 datetimeoffset = 34 datetimeoffset (s) = 26 when s = 0, else s + 27 smalldatetime = 16 time = 16 time (s) = 8 when s = 0, else s + 9 float = 53 real = 24 decimal and numeric = 18 decimal (p,s) and numeric (p,s) = p money = 19 smallmoney = 10 bigint = 19 int = 10 smallint = 5 tinyint = 3 bit = 1 All other types = 0 |
int NULL = Input is not valid. |
| Scale | Number of digits to the right of the decimal point of the numeric base data type: decimal and numeric = 0 decimal (p,s) and numeric (p,s) = s money and smallmoney = 4 datetime = 3 datetime2 = 7 datetime2 (s) = s (0 - 7) datetimeoffset = 7 datetimeoffset (s) = s (0 - 7) time = 7 time (s) = s (0 - 7) all other types = 0 |
int NULL = Input is not valid. |
| TotalBytes | Number of bytes required to hold both the metadata and data of the value. This information would be useful in checking the maximum side of data in a sql_variant column. If the value is larger than 900, index creation fails. | int NULL = Input is not valid. |
| Collation | Represents the collation of the particular sql_variant value. | sysname NULL = Input is not valid. |
| MaxLength | Maximum data type length, in bytes. For example, MaxLength of nvarchar(50) is 100, MaxLength of int is 4. | int NULL = Input is not valid. |
Return Types
sql_variant
Examples
A. Using a sql_variant in a table
The following example retrieves SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY information about the colA value 46279.1 where colB =1689, given that tableA has colA that is of type sql_variant and colB.
CREATE TABLE tableA(colA sql_variant, colB int)
INSERT INTO tableA values ( cast (46279.1 as decimal(8,2)), 1689)
SELECT SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(colA,'BaseType') AS 'Base Type',
SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(colA,'Precision') AS 'Precision',
SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(colA,'Scale') AS 'Scale'
FROM tableA
WHERE colB = 1689
Here's the result set. Note that each of these three values is a sql_variant.
Base Type Precision Scale
--------- --------- -----
decimal 8 2
(1 row(s) affected)
B. Using a sql_variant as a variable
The following example retrieves SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY information about a variable named @v1.
DECLARE @v1 sql_variant;
SET @v1 = 'ABC';
SELECT @v1;
SELECT SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(@v1, 'BaseType');
SELECT SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(@v1, 'MaxLength');