xml Data Type Methods

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

You can use the xml data type methods to query an XML instance stored in a variable or column of xml type. The topics in this section describe how to use the xml data type methods.

In This Section

Topic	Description
query() Method (xml Data Type)	Describes how to use the query() method to query over an XML instance.
value() Method (xml Data Type)	Describes how to use the value() method to retrieve a value of SQL type from an XML instance.
exist() Method (xml Data Type)	Describes how to use the exist() method to determine whether a query returns a nonempty result.
modify() Method (xml Data Type)	Describes how to use the modify() method to specify XML Data Modification Language (XML DML) statements to perform updates.
nodes() Method (xml Data Type)	Describes how to use the nodes() method to shred XML into multiple rows, which propagates parts of XML documents into rowsets.
Binding Relational Data Inside XML Data	Describes how to bind non-XML data inside XML.
Guidelines for Using xml Data Type Methods	Describes guidelines for using the xml data type methods.

You call these methods by using the user-defined type method invocation syntax. For example:

SELECT XmlCol.query(' ... ')  
FROM Table  

Note

The xml data type methods query(), value(), and exist() return NULL if executed against a NULL XML instance. Also, modify() does not return anything, but nodes() returns rowsets and an empty rowset with a NULL input.

Related content

• Compare typed XML to untyped XML
• Create instances of XML data