decompress-transact-sql.md

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DECOMPRESS (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs		11/30/2015	sql	database-engine, sql-database		sql	t-sql		language-reference	DECOMPRESS DECOMPRESS_TSQL	DECOMPRESS function	738d56be-3870-4774-b112-3dce27becc11	8	MashaMSFT	mathoma	craigg

DECOMPRESS (Transact-SQL)

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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))  
);  

See Also

String Functions (Transact-SQL)
COMPRESS (Transact-SQL)