example-retrieving-binary-data.md

title	Example: Retrieving Binary Data
description	View an example of a SQL query that retrieves binary data using the RAW and BINARY BASE64 options with the FOR XML clause.
author	MikeRayMSFT
ms.author	mikeray
ms.reviewer	randolphwest
ms.date	05/05/2022
ms.service	sql
ms.subservice	xml
ms.topic	conceptual
ms.custom	ignite-2025
helpviewer_keywords	RAW mode, retrieving binary data example

Example: Retrieve binary data

[!INCLUDE SQL Server Azure SQL Database Azure SQL Managed Instance FabricSQLDB]

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