Example: Retrieve binary data

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance SQL database in Microsoft Fabric

The following query returns the product photo stored in a varbinary(max) type column. The BINARY BASE64 option is specified in the query to return the binary data in base64-encoded format.

Example

USE AdventureWorks2022;
GO
SELECT ProductPhotoID, ThumbNailPhoto
FROM Production.ProductPhoto
WHERE ProductPhotoID = 1
FOR XML RAW, BINARY BASE64;
GO

Expect the following result:

<row ProductModelID="1" ThumbNailPhoto="base64 encoded binary data"/>

See also

Use RAW Mode with FOR XML