View image stored in VARBINARY(MAX) column in SQL SERVER 2008

Question

Hello,

How to select and view the .jpg image stored in VARBINARY(MAX) column in SQL SERVER 2008?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi,

There are number ways to see a image stored in database.But none are built in functionality of Management studio.

1. You can use power shell to export images from sql server.Following posts has relevant information.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/uk/winserverpowershell/thread/c4535b53-30d2-4a5c-a018-0dea7117d34c

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/890.export-sql-server-blob-data-with-powershell-en-us.aspx

2. You can use export Column task in SSIS to import a image column to a file.

http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/2693/export-images-from-a-sql-server-table-to-a-folder-with-ssis/

3. You can use some asp.net code 

http://www.sqlmag.com/article/tsql3/varbinary-max-tames-the-blob

There are some third party add ins(ssmsboost) to management studio to add image viewers to context menus of image column in the result set.I haven't tried this.

My advise is to use power shell.

---

Vinay Valeti| If you think my suggestion is useful, please rate it as helpful. If it has helped you to resolve the problem, please Mark it as Answer

Answer 2

SSMS has no such functionality, you can use third-party products that do that in your IDE's.

Or if you need to do with a specific programming language, specify it.

The EMS IDE has this functionality, you can use the free version or trial.

http://www.sqlmanager.net/products/mssql/manager

Answer 3

SSMSBoost plug-in for SQL Server Management Studio has this feature:

---

SSMSBoost - ssms add-in adds quick source code navigation to SSMS, quick connection management & switching, shortcuts, auto replacements and object search. www.ssmsboost.com

Answer 4

Boost worked perfectly.

Another way to view the image is to export it from table to file system using bcp command.
Below link explains how to do that:
http://madhuottapalam.blogspot.com/2008/08/creating-files-from-images-stored-in.html

Thanks everybody!

Answer 5

we can also use SSRS to view the image stored in the SQL Database.

https://sqlserverrider.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/display-images-stored-in-database-ssrs/

---

Thanks Ayyappan Thangaraj, http://SQLServerRider.wordpress.com