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Binary and Var Binary Data Type - SQL Server

 Binary and Var Binary

In SQL Server, the binary data type is used to store data in binary format. It is a fixed-length data type that can store binary data up to a maximum size of 8,000 bytes. Binary data can include any type of data, such as images, audio files, video files, and more. In this blog, we'll explore the binary data type in SQL Server and its use case.

What is a Binary Data Type?

The binary data type is a fixed-length data type that can store binary data in SQL Server. It is represented by the "binary" or "varbinary" data types. The "binary" data type stores a fixed-length binary data up to 8,000 bytes, while the "varbinary" data type stores variable-length binary data up to 8,000 bytes.

The binary data type is commonly used to store images, audio files, and other types of binary data in the database.

Use case of Binary Data Type

One of the most common use cases of the binary data type is storing images in the database. For example, let's say you have an e-commerce website that sells products online. Each product has a product image that needs to be displayed on the website.

To store the product images in the database, you can create a table with a binary column to store the images. For example, you can create a table like this:

CREATE TABLE ProductImages (

    ProductID INT PRIMARY KEY,

    ImageData VARBINARY(MAX)

);

The "ImageData" column stores the binary data of the product image. The "VARBINARY(MAX)" data type is used to store variable-length binary data up to a maximum size of 2GB.

To insert a product image into the "ProductImages" table, you can use the following SQL statement:

INSERT INTO ProductImages (ProductID, ImageData)

VALUES (1, (SELECT BulkColumn FROM Openrowset( Bulk 'C:\Images\Product1.jpg', Single_Blob) as Image))

This statement inserts the binary data of the product image "Product1.jpg" into the "ImageData" column of the "ProductImages" table.

To retrieve the product image from the database, you can use the SELECT statement with the "ImageData" column. For example, the following SQL statement retrieves the product image with a ProductID of 1:

SELECT ImageData FROM ProductImages WHERE ProductID = 1;

This statement retrieves the binary data of the product image from the "ImageData" column of the "ProductImages" table.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the binary data type in SQL Server is a powerful tool for storing binary data such as images, audio files, video files, and more. By using the binary data type, you can efficiently store and retrieve binary data in the database.

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