T-SQL Tutorial

Store JSON data in SQL Server


Storing JSON data in SQL Server can be useful when dealing with data that has a dynamic structure or when you want to store data that is not easily mapped to a traditional relational database schema. To store JSON data in SQL Server database, VARCHAR or NVARCHAR columns are used. When defining the table, the column in which JSON data will be stored will be defined as VARCHAR or NVARCHAR.


Example

Here are some steps to help you store JSON data in SQL Server:


1. Create a table with a column of the VARCHAR

Create a table with a column of type VARCHAR(MAX) to store the JSON data. Here is an example of how to create a table:

CREATE TABLE MyTable (
Id INT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY,
JsonData VARCHAR(MAX)
);


2. Insert JSON data into the table

Once you have created a table with a VARCHAR column, you can insert JSON data into it using the INSERT statement. Here is an example of how to insert JSON data into the table:

INSERT INTO MyTable (JsonData)
VALUES ('{"name": "John", "age": 30, "city": "New York"}');


3. Query JSON data from the table

To query JSON data from the table, you can use the JSON_VALUE function. The JSON_VALUE function extracts a scalar value from a JSON string.

SELECT JSON_VALUE(JsonData, '$.name') as Name
FROM MyTable;

In summary, storing JSON data in SQL Server can be done using the VARCHAR or NVARCHAR data types. To query JSON data from the table, you will need to use the JSON_VALUE function.

Overall, storing JSON data in SQL Server can provide a flexible way to store and manipulate semi-structured data, but it does require some additional steps when inserting and retrieving data.