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 xml Data Type.

Transact-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 vs. Untyped XML.

Remarks

The stored representation of xml data type instances cannot exceed 2 gigabytes (GB) in size. For more information, see xml Data Type.

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

Examples

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

See Also

Reference

Data Types (Transact-SQL)

Other Resources

Data Type Conversion (Database Engine)
xml Data Type
xml Data Type Methods
XQuery Against the xml Data Type

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance

Change History

Release	History
5 December 2005	New content: Documented the CONTENT and DOCUMENT arguments.