Specifies how many elements of nested XML arrays are flattened into individual columns.

Data Type

string

Default Value

""

Remarks

When this property is not set, nested arrays are returned as XML strings.

When this property is set to a numeric value, the server flattens nested XML arrays by returning the specified number of elements as separate columns. The element index is appended to each column name.

The following example shows how a nested array is flattened:

<languages>FLOW-MATIC</languages>
<languages>LISP</languages>
<languages>COBOL</languages>

When FlattenArrays is set to -1, all elements in nested arrays are flattened into individual columns.

Column Name	Column Value
languages.0	FLOW-MATIC

Flattening is recommended only for arrays that are expected to be short, as large arrays can significantly increase the number of columns and reduce performance.

This property is useful for converting nested XML arrays into individual columns.