Returning Binary Data from ActiveX to SQL Server varbinary(max)

The error -2147211494 (hex 0x80040202) in SQL Server when using “sp_OAMethod” typically indicates a type mismatch or invalid data type issue, particularly when interacting with COM objects that return binary data. The Chilkat ActiveX returns a SAFEARRAY of VT_UI1, which causes the problem explained below.  The solution is to instead look for the Chilkat method that returns the binary data as […]

SQL sp_OAMethod String Length Return Value Limitations

The sp_OAMethod function is used to call ActiveX methods in SQL stored procedures.  If the ActiveX method returns a string, there is a limit imposed by sp_OAMethod on the size of the string that can be returned.  (Perhaps it is 4000 chars?) This blog post describes a way to workaround this limitation. An example of a method call that is […]