CODEWITHSUNDEEP
sqlsql-serverpdf
user2961127
user2961127

Reputation: 1143

Convert Varbinary to PDF in SQL Server

I have a SQL table with varbinary type column and I stored PDF File in it. This is how the file looks in database:

0x4D007900500044004600460069006C0065002E00700064006600

How do I convert it so that I can see PDF file's content?

For example: In same column I stored XML file and I can see the XML file content by using CONVERT() function:

SELECT *, CONVERT(XML,(CONVERT(varbinary(max),[fileColumn]))) from table

Upvotes: 1

Views: 9390

Answers (1)

ADyson
ADyson

Reputation: 61839

It doesn't need converting as such - the data is already PDF data, as you stated yourself. You just need to put it somewhere where a program which knows how to display PDF data can read and understand it.

As the above comment notes, the easiest way to achieve that is by putting it into a file. Then you can open it in Adobe Reader or other PDF program of your choice.

SQL itself (or to be precise, any SQL Server client software that I know of) cannot render PDFs to the screen directly, if that's what you're asking.

P.S. The key difference between that and your XML example is that XML is a text-based format (whereas PDF is binary), and also SQL Server has a built-in understanding of XML already, so it's easy for a) SQL to parse the data using its built-in functions, and b) a SQL client to display it, because it's already able to display text.

Upvotes: 3

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