Export SQL Server TEXT / NTEXT / VARCHAR(MAX) / NVARCHAR(MAX) to TXT files

Want to batch export SQL Server [TEXT, NTEXT, VARCHAR(MAX), NVARCHAR(MAX)] (CLOB) to TXT (Text) files ?

Try Withdata DBBlobEditor, a SQL Server [TEXT, NTEXT, VARCHAR(MAX), NVARCHAR(MAX)] (CLOB) editor, Bulk export SQL Server [TEXT, NTEXT, VARCHAR(MAX), NVARCHAR(MAX)] (CLOB) to TXT files, East and Fast.

• Can run in GUI mode, just a few mouse clicks.
• Can run in Command line, for Scheduled Tasks and Streams.
• Support Windows, Linux, and macOS.

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Windows 64 bit
Windows 32 bit
Linux .deb (For Debian, Ubuntu) 64 bit
Linux .rpm (For Red Hat, Fedora, SUSE) 64 bit
MacOS 64 bit

Batch extract TXT files from SQL Server [TEXT, NTEXT, VARCHAR(MAX), NVARCHAR(MAX)] (CLOB) column

Run DBBlobEditor, login to SQL Server.

Click “Start New Task – Export LOB To Files” at task dialog.

then show the wizard.

1. Configure export settings.

2. Bulk export SQL Server [TEXT, NTEXT, VARCHAR(MAX), NVARCHAR(MAX)] (CLOB) to TXT (Text) files.

then you can see exporting results

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More about SQL Server [TEXT, NTEXT, VARCHAR(MAX), NVARCHAR(MAX)] (CLOB) exporter

SQL Server → TXT reference

Type mapping

Value kind	in SQL Server	in TXT
Int	int	1234, or right-aligned in a fixed-width column
Bigint	bigint	9007199254740993
Decimal	decimal(p,s)	1234.56
Float	float	1.234e+10
Text	nvarchar(n)	written as-is; padding depends on the chosen layout
Long text	nvarchar(max)	written as-is
Date	date	whatever the writer chose
Datetime	datetime2	whatever the writer chose
Binary	varbinary(max)	not representable
Boolean	bit	Y / N, or 1 / 0, or TRUE / FALSE

Dialect differences

SQL Server is a database server and TXT is a file format, so the gap is wider than a dialect difference - the rows below are where values and structure stop lining up.

Property	in SQL Server	in TXT
port	1433	—
identifiers	[square brackets]	None by convention
row limit	SELECT TOP n	—
dates	datetime, datetime2, date, time	Whatever the writer produced; no convention is guaranteed
long text	nvarchar(max)	—
binary	varbinary(max)	Not supported
separator	—	Whatever was chosen - often fixed column widths
encoding	—	No declaration - UTF-8 works only with a BOM
typing	—	None - every field is text
shape	Tables of rows and columns	Free form; a parser has to be told the layout
ceiling	—	No formal limit

Command line

Side	Command
SQL Server	bcp
SQL Server (load)	bcp, or BULK INSERT

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