set-textsize-transact-sql.md

title	SET TEXTSIZE (Transact-SQL) | Microsoft Docs
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ms.date	04/12/2016
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helpviewer_keywords	SET TEXTSIZE statement SELECT statement [SQL Server], text size returned size [SQL Server], text and image data TEXTSIZE option text size returned [SQL Server]
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SET TEXTSIZE (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDEtsql-appliesto-ss2008-all_md]

Specifies the size of varchar(max), nvarchar(max), varbinary(max), text, ntext, and image data returned by a SELECT statement.

Important

ntext, text, and image data types will be removed in a future version of [!INCLUDEmsCoName][!INCLUDEssNoVersion]. Avoid using these data types in new development work, and plan to modify applications that currently use them. Use nvarchar(max), varchar(max), and varbinary(max) instead.

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

-- Syntax for SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Data Warehouse, Parallel Data Warehouse  
  
SET TEXTSIZE { number }   

Arguments

number
Is the length of varchar(max), nvarchar(max), varbinary(max), text, ntext, or image data, in bytes. number is an integer with a maximum value of 2147483647 (2 GB). A value of -1 indicates unlimited size. A value of 0 resets the size to the default value of 4 KB.

The [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Native Client (10.0 and higher) and ODBC Driver for [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] automatically specify -1 (unlimited) when connecting.

Drivers older than [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] 2008: The [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Native Client ODBC driver and [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Native Client OLE DB Provider (version 9) for [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] automatically set TEXTSIZE to 2147483647 when connecting.

Remarks

Setting SET TEXTSIZE affects the @@TEXTSIZE function.

The setting of set TEXTSIZE is set at execute or run time and not at parse time.

Permissions

Requires membership in the public role.

See Also

@@TEXTSIZE (Transact-SQL)
Data Types (Transact-SQL)
SET Statements (Transact-SQL)