Base64 encoding in SQL Server 2005 T-SQL

Question

I\'d like to write a T-SQL query where I encode a string as a Base64 string. Surprisingly, I can\'t find any native T-SQL functions for doing Base64 encoding. Does a nativ

Answer 1

I loved @Slai's answer. I only had to make very minor modifications into the one-liners I was looking for. I thought I'd share what I ended up with in case it helps anyone else stumbling onto this page like I did:

DECLARE @Source VARCHAR(50) = '12345'
DECLARE @Encoded VARCHAR(500) = CONVERT(VARCHAR(500), (SELECT CONVERT(VARBINARY, @Source) FOR XML PATH(''), BINARY BASE64))
DECLARE @Decoded VARCHAR(500) = CONVERT(VARCHAR(500), CONVERT(XML, @Encoded).value('.','varbinary(max)'))
SELECT @Source AS [Source], @Encoded AS [Encoded], @Decoded AS [Decoded]