SQL Guide : Data types : Binary data types
  
Binary data types
Data type
Size
Precision
Scale
Length
Display Size
BINARY
2 G*
DEFLEN
N/A
DEFLEN
DEFLEN x 2
VARBINARY
2 G**
DEFLEN
N/A
DEFLEN
DEFLEN x 2
LONG VARBINARY BLOB
2G
MAXLEN
N/A
MAXLEN
MAXLEN x 2
* Default is 1
** Default is 254
To insert values into BINARY, VARBINARY, and LONG VARBINARY fields, you may express the value as hexadecimal and use the CAST operator, for example:
INSERT INTO table1 VALUES (CAST('FF00AA55' AS VARBINARY));
Similarly, you may use CAST() expressions in WHERE clauses:
CREATE TABLE t1 (x VARBINARY);
INSERT INTO t1 (x) VALUES (CAST('000000A512' AS VARBINARY));
INSERT INTO t1 (x) VALUES (CAST('000000FF12' AS VARBINARY));
-- To compare the VARBINARY value(s) using LIKE, cast the
-- VARBINARY to VARCHAR.
SELECT * FROM t1 WHERE CAST(x AS VARCHAR) LIKE '000000A5%'; SELECT * FROM t1 WHERE CAST(x AS VARCHAR) LIKE '000000A5__';
-- NOTE: If you want to use "=" rather than "LIKE" then you
-- can cast either operand.
SELECT * FROM t1 WHERE CAST(x AS VARCHAR) = '000000A512'; SELECT * FROM t1 WHERE x = CAST('000000A512' AS VARBINARY);
Note This kind of query cannot use indexed search for the LIKE predicate and results in poor query performance in many cases.
See also
Data types