DECOMPRESS (Transact-SQL)
Applies to: SQL Server 2016 (13.x)
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Azure Synapse Analytics
This function will decompress an input expression value, using the GZIP algorithm. DECOMPRESS
will return a byte array (VARBINARY(MAX) type).
Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions
Syntax
DECOMPRESS ( expression )
Arguments
expression
A varbinary(n), varbinary(max), or binary(n) value. See Expressions (Transact-SQL) for more information.
Return Types
A value of data type varbinary(max). DECOMPRESS
will use the ZIP algorithm to decompress the input argument. The user should explicitly cast result to a target type if necessary.
Remarks
Examples
A. Decompress Data at Query Time
This example shows how to return compressed table data:
SELECT _id, name, surname, datemodified,
CAST(DECOMPRESS(info) AS NVARCHAR(MAX)) AS info
FROM player;
B. Display Compressed Data Using Computed Column
This example shows how to create a table for decompressed data storage:
CREATE TABLE example_table (
_id INT PRIMARY KEY IDENTITY,
name NVARCHAR(max),
surname NVARCHAR(max),
info VARBINARY(max),
info_json as CAST(DECOMPRESS(info) as NVARCHAR(max))
);