Using SQL Server “FOR XML”: Convert Result Datatype to Text/varchar/string whatever?

Question

I\'m struggling with this nearly one week now, and still haven\'t found any solution -.-

My goal is to receive an XML from a SQL Server by querying with the \"FOR XM

Answer 1

I knew I'd done something like this before, and I think this is what you're after:

SELECT CAST((SELECT [Columns] FROM [Tables] FOR XML PATH('')) AS VARCHAR(MAX)) AS XmlData

That will spit out whatever you've generated as XML as text data that Lotus Notes may well accept.

Edit: You could change FOR XML PATH('') to FOR XML AUTO if you need the XML to be generated in another style.