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xml (Transact-SQL)

Is the data type that stores XML data. You can store xml instances in a column, or a variable of xml type. For more information, see Implementing XML in SQL Server.

Topic link iconTransact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

xml ( [ CONTENT | DOCUMENT ] xml_schema_collection )

Arguments

  • CONTENT
    Restricts the xml instance to be a well-formed XML fragment. The XML data can contain multiple zero or more elements at the top level. Text nodes are also allowed at the top level.

    This is the default behavior.

  • DOCUMENT
    Restricts the xml instance to be a well-formed XML document. The XML data must have one and only one root element. Text nodes are not allowed at the top level.

  • xml_schema_collection
    Is the name of an XML schema collection. To create a typed xml column or variable, you can optionally specify the XML schema collection name. For more information about typed and untyped XML, see Typed XML Compared to Untyped XML.

Remarks

The stored representation of xml data type instances cannot exceed 2 gigabytes (GB) in size. For more information, see Implementing XML in SQL Server.

The CONTENT and DOCUMENT facets apply only to typed XML. For more information see Typed XML Compared to Untyped XML.

Examples

USE AdventureWorks;
GO
DECLARE @y xml (Sales.IndividualSurveySchemaCollection)
SET @y =  (SELECT TOP 1 Demographics FROM Sales.Individual);
SELECT @y;
GO