DECOMPRESS (Transact-SQL)

**APPLIES TO:** ![yes](media/yes.png)SQL Server (starting with 2016) ![yes](media/yes.png)Azure SQL Database ![yes](media/yes.png)Azure SQL Data Warehouse ![no](media/no.png)Parallel Data Warehouse

This function will decompress an input expression value, using the GZIP algorithm. DECOMPRESS will return a byte array (VARBINARY(MAX) type).

Topic link icon 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))  
);