SQL Server data types serialization format

This is the 200th post on my blog and I am blogging this at 2:00 AM in the morning, and see what a grand resource I have got to make this a grand post. When we look at data stored in spatial data types i.e. geometry or geography ( I know hierarchyid is also spatial data type, but I am ignoring it for the moment ), the binary format looks alien to us, but in fact is called as WKB (Well known binary) format. Also this format is very structured and if you know the serialization logic behind the same, you can easily decode this metadata just by looking at the binary values.

Though one would not be required to use these kind of manuals on a day to day basis, but this can help to deepen your fundamentals about SQL CLR Types, and spatial datatypes in particular. Keep it as a manual to understand storage and serialization of each and every SQL Server data type. It's a PDF available for public download from Microsoft and the same can be downloaded from here.