SQL Server – How to Decode Base64 String Natively

castsql serversql-server-2008-r2string manipulationt-sql

I have a varchar column in a table in SQL Server which hold a base64-encoded text string which I would like to decode into it's plain text equivalent

Does SQL Server have any native functionality to handle this type of thing?

A sample base64 string:

cm9sZToxIHByb2R1Y2VyOjEyIHRpbWVzdGFtcDoxNDY4NjQwMjIyNTcxMDAwIGxhdGxuZ3tsYXRpdHVkZV9lNzo0MTY5ODkzOTQgbG9uZ2l0dWRlX2U3Oi03Mzg5NjYyMTB9IHJhZGl1czoxOTc2NA==

Which decodes to:

role:1 producer:12 timestamp:1468640222571000 latlng{latitude_e7:416989394 longitude_e7:-738966210} radius:19764

Best Answer

Figured it out:

SELECT 
    CONVERT
    (
        VARCHAR(MAX), 
        CAST('' AS XML).value('xs:base64Binary(sql:column("BASE64_COLUMN"))', 'VARBINARY(MAX)')
    ) AS RESULT
FROM
    (
        SELECT 'cm9sZToxIHByb2R1Y2VyOjEyIHRpbWVzdGFtcDoxNDY4NjQwMjIyNTcxMDAwIGxhdGxuZ3tsYXRpdHVkZV9lNzo0MTY5ODkzOTQgbG9uZ2l0dWRlX2U3Oi03Mzg5NjYyMTB9IHJhZGl1czoxOTc2NA==' AS BASE64_COLUMN
    ) A

Output:

role:1 producer:12 timestamp:1468640222571000 latlng{latitude_e7:416989394 longitude_e7:-738966210} radius:19764

Just swap out BASE64_COL_NAME for your column name, or you can replace sql:column("BASE64_COLUMN") with sql:variable("@base64variable") if you want to use a declared variable e.g. if you are making a function or something.

It makes use of an XSL transform using built-in XML functionality (since SQL Server 2005)

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Some checks

Do both your Dev and Prod link to the same Navision DB?
Compare the rows in sys.servers, especially the is_collation_compatible column
Is the linked server via an ODBC/DSN or is it simple "SQL Server"? If ODBC then are settings the same in the DNS?

I suspect number 2 or 3 if the all your servers link to the same box.

Sql-server – How to find the longest string in a row amongst various text fields

The following code should return a single column that has the largest piece of text in the current database, along with the Schema, Table, and Column name, and the size of the piece of text:

DECLARE @cmd NVARCHAR(max);
DECLARE @sep NVARCHAR(max);
SET @cmd = '';
SET @sep = '';
SELECT @cmd = @cmd + @sep +
    'SELECT ''' + QUOTENAME(sc.name) + '.' + QUOTENAME(t.name) + 
    '.' + QUOTENAME(c.name) + ''' AS ColumnName, ' + 
    QUOTENAME(c.name) + ' AS ColumnValue, LEN(CAST(' + 
    QUOTENAME(c.name) + ' AS NVARCHAR(max))) AS ColumnLength ' +
    ' FROM ' + QUOTENAME(sc.name) + '.' + QUOTENAME(t.name)
    , @sep = ' UNION ALL '   
FROM sys.tables t 
    INNER JOIN sys.columns c ON t.object_id = c.object_id
    INNER JOIN sys.types ty on c.system_type_id = ty.system_type_id
    INNER JOIN sys.schemas sc ON t.schema_id = sc.schema_id
WHERE t.is_ms_shipped = 0
    AND ty.name IN (
        'ntext'
        , 'text'
        , 'varchar'
        , 'nvarchar'
        , 'nchar'
        , 'char'
        , 'sysname'
        , 'sql_variant'
        );
SET @cmd = 'SELECT TOP(1) * FROM (' + @cmd + ') t ORDER BY 3 DESC'
SELECT @cmd; /* This displays the resulting SQL Text that will be 
            EXEC'd by the following statement */
EXEC sp_executesql @cmd;

Best Answer

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