# Alternatives to access SQL Server from Julia

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/alternatives-to-access-sql-server-from-julia/19751>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Created:** [January 17, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/alternatives-to-access-sql-server-from-julia/19751 "2019-01-17T17:13:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ronis\_BR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ronis_br/32/50999_2.png) [@Ronis\_BR](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ronis_BR)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/alternatives-to-access-sql-server-from-julia/19751/1 "2019-01-17T17:13:51Z")

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Hi guys!

I am trying to fetch data from SQL Server using Julia. I tried to use ODBC.jl, but there are many bugs. My data is too long and it seems that ODBC.jl is putting garbage due to buffer size or something.

I cannot use it in its current state. Hence, is there any other way to do this within Julia?

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**Author:** ![Ronis\_BR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ronis_br/32/50999_2.png) [@Ronis\_BR](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ronis_BR)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/alternatives-to-access-sql-server-from-julia/19751/2 "2019-01-17T18:00:26Z")

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Never mind, I managed to fix the error and submit a PR:

[https://github.com/JuliaDatabases/ODBC.jl/pull/225](https://github.com/JuliaDatabases/ODBC.jl/pull/225)

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**Author:** ![Ken-B](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ken-b/32/1780_2.png) [@Ken-B](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ken-B)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/alternatives-to-access-sql-server-from-julia/19751/3 "2019-01-17T23:14:18Z")

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You can always use PyCall and your favorite python package, e.g. pyodbc.

I can confirm this works flawlessly in production.

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**Author:** ![Ronis\_BR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ronis_br/32/50999_2.png) [@Ronis\_BR](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ronis_BR)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2019, 11:45pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/alternatives-to-access-sql-server-from-julia/19751/4 "2019-01-17T23:45:59Z")

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Good point! But I think a Julia-only solution will be faster right?

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**Author:** ![Ken-B](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ken-b/32/1780_2.png) [@Ken-B](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ken-B)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 8:47am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/alternatives-to-access-sql-server-from-julia/19751/5 "2019-01-18T08:47:23Z")

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I would be surprised if there were significant speed differences between ODBC.jl and pyodbc through PyCall, but I haven’t tested yet.

I can cofirm the pyodbc alternative  
is super stable though, running live since julia 0.3, almost 4 years now, without any hiccup.

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**Author:** ![RobLW](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/roblw/32/6776_2.png) [@RobLW](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/RobLW)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 9:33am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/alternatives-to-access-sql-server-from-julia/19751/6 "2019-01-18T09:33:54Z")

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Ronis,  
do you have GUIDs in your SQL server tables and do you find that ODBC is bringing back the values of those GUIDs in a messy and unhelpful manner?  
I’ve been wondering if I’m missing out on doing somethign specific to handle GUID data.

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**Author:** ![Ronis\_BR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/ronis_br/32/50999_2.png) [@Ronis\_BR](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Ronis_BR)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2019, 10:52am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/alternatives-to-access-sql-server-from-julia/19751/7 "2019-01-18T10:52:41Z")

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Hi @RobLW

Unfortunately I do not have. I am accessing a very simple database that store some binary data.