Darren White


SQLServerCentral Article

Understanding Graphical Execution Plans - Part 3: Analyzing the Plan

Learn how to examine and read a SQL Server execution plan in this article. This is the third part of a short series from Darren White that examines execution plans and imparts the basics on an important skill for DBA's and SQL developers alike.

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2017-02-02 (first published: )

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The Decoded Value

In SQL Server 2025, what is returned from this code:

DECLARE @message VARCHAR(50) = 'Hello SQL Server 2025!';
DECLARE @encoded VARCHAR(MAX);

SET @encoded = BASE64_ENCODE(CAST(@message AS VARBINARY(1000)));
SELECT BASE64_DECODE(@encoded) 

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