sql server - How to read a file's contents into an SQL variable

Question

Could someone tell me how to read a file's contents into an MS SQL variable using T-SQL?

Answer 1

DECLARE @FileContents  VARCHAR(MAX)

SELECT @FileContents=BulkColumn
FROM   OPENROWSET(BULK'PathToYourFile.sql',SINGLE_BLOB) x; -- BINARY
--FROM OPENROWSET(BULK'PathToYourFile.sql',SINGLE_CLOB) x; -- CHAR

The SQL Server service account needs to have permissions to read the file obviously.