Full text index on column of varbinary data type

  • Hi All, Is there any way that we create "Full text index" on column of datatype varBinary(max).

    I tried to create it through Full-Text indexing wizard but as i selected the column of the above datatype the next button was disabled.

    any idea welcomed.

  • Yes, providing the varbinary stores a document and you need a column that describes what the varbinary is.

    From Books Online:

    Only one full-text index is allowed per table. For a full-text index to be created on a table, the table must have a single, unique nonnull column. You can build a full-text index on columns of type char, varchar, nchar, nvarchar, text, ntext, image, xml, varbinary, and varbinary(max) can be indexed for full-text search. Creating a full-text index on a image, varbinary, or varbinary(max) requires that you specify a type column. A type column is a table column in which you store the file extension (.doc, .pdf, .xls, and so forth) of the document in each row.

    Gail Shaw
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server, MVP, M.Sc (Comp Sci)
    SQL In The Wild: Discussions on DB performance with occasional diversions into recoverability

    We walk in the dark places no others will enter
    We stand on the bridge and no one may pass
  • hi Gila, thanks that did work. could you plaese help me lil more.....

    i m trying to make search on binary data stored in the database using keyword "contains" and "like". in my observation i found "contains" is able to search from the .doc and .txt file but not from .pdf files. And "like" gives even result from .pdf files but in both cases i find that only the most commonly words are searched not all. Do i need to customise the Full-Text index so that i get search on all the words contained in the .doc or .pdf files? If any enhancement to make the Full-Text index more effective, please suggest.

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