Following up on my comment, you have to select ENU\x64\SQLEXPRADV_x64_ENU.exe to solve sql server reporting services 2012. Then run the installation package and follow instructions until you get the feature selection page. Follow the rest of the steps and complete the installation. Now Verify the RS installation : Note: You must be logged in as a member of the local administrators group on the computer where SQL Server 2012 Express is installed. Navigate to Start - All Programs - Microsoft SQL Server 2012 - Configuration Tools - Reporting Services Configuration Manager. In the RS Configuration Connection dialog, make sure that your local report server instance (for example SQLExpess) is selected and click Connect. In the RS Configuration Manager left pane, select Web Service URL. Make sure that the Virtual Directory parameter is set to ‘ReportServer_’ (‘ReportServer_SQLEXPRESS’ for the SQLEXPRESS instance), and that the TCP Port is set to 80. Click Apply. In the Reporting Services Configuration Manager left pane, select Database. On this page, ensure that the SQL Server Name and Database Name fields contain correct values. If not, click the Change Database button and complete the Report Server Database Configuration wizard. In the Reporting Services Configuration Manager left pane, select Report Manager URL. On this page, ensure that the Virtual Directory parameter is set correctly, and that the URL is valid. Click Exit to close the RS Configuration Manager. Well, I hope my answer helps you!

Question

From this Microsoft doc,+ n defines the string length and can be a value from 1 through 8,000. max indicates that the maximum storage size is 2^31-1 bytes (2 GB). The storage size is the actual length of the data entered + 2 bytes. Please help me understand this. The max characters for varchar seems to be 8000, which is way less than 2GB worth of data.

I see that there are records in this varchar(max) column of a specific table that have len(mycolumn) > 100 000. Thus I know I can get way more than 8000 characters into a varchar(max) column.

Question 1: How does the 8000 characters come into play and where should I be aware of it?

Question 2 : will a .net datareader query to this column always return the full result with 100 000+ characters?

Ben Phillips · Accepted Answer

I can see why you're misunderstanding this and facing sql server varchar max length error - it's a little tricky. These are all valid:VARCHAR(1) - one character stringVARCHAR(4000) - 4,000 characters VARCHAR(8000) - 8,000 characters - and if you use a number for this field's definition, that's the highest NUMBER you can use, but watch this: VARCHAR(MAX) - that one holds up to 2GB. And yes, if you try to get data out of a VARCHAR(MAX) field, and somebody stored 2GB in there, buckle up.

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