How Can I Print VARCHAR(MAX) Values in SQL Server When They Exceed the PRINT Statement Limit?

Handling Long VARCHAR(MAX) Data in SQL Server's PRINT Statement

SQL Server's PRINT statement has a limitation: it can only display a maximum of 8000 characters. This poses a challenge when working with VARCHAR(MAX) data, which can store significantly more. Attempting to PRINT a VARCHAR(MAX) value exceeding this limit will result in truncation.

A Dynamic Solution using CAST and SUBSTRING

The solution involves dynamically breaking down the VARCHAR(MAX) data into smaller chunks, each less than 8000 characters, and printing them individually. The following code demonstrates this approach:

<code class="language-sql">DECLARE @Script VARCHAR(MAX);

SELECT @Script = definition 
FROM sys.sql_modules 
WHERE object_id = OBJECT_ID('usp_gen_data'); -- Replace 'usp_gen_data' with your stored procedure name

DECLARE @PartsCount INT;
DECLARE @PartSize INT;
DECLARE @PartStartIndex INT;
DECLARE @i INT = 1;

SET @PartsCount = ROUND((LEN(@Script) - 1) / 8000, 0) + 1;
SET @PartSize = CEILING((LEN(@Script) - 1) / @PartsCount, 0);
SET @PartStartIndex = 1;

WHILE @i <= @PartsCount
BEGIN
    PRINT CAST(SUBSTRING(@Script, @PartStartIndex, @PartSize) AS NTEXT);
    SET @PartStartIndex = @PartStartIndex + @PartSize;
    SET @i = @i + 1;
END;</code>

This code first retrieves the VARCHAR(MAX) data. It then calculates the number of parts needed (@PartsCount), the size of each part (@PartSize), and uses a WHILE loop to iteratively print each part using SUBSTRING and CAST to NTEXT for optimal handling of Unicode characters. This ensures that the entire VARCHAR(MAX) value is displayed, regardless of its length. Remember to replace 'usp_gen_data' with the actual name of your stored procedure or the source of your long string.

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