Stream datatypes are not displayed when you execute SQL (in SMP for example). The following query (SAMPLES namespace):
SELECT TOP 2 ID, Notes FROM Sample.Employee
Produces this output:
ID Notes
101 1%Stream.GlobalCharacter^Sample.PersonS
102 3%Stream.GlobalCharacter^Sample.PersonS
  To get around that use [SUBSTRING](http://docs.intersystems.com/cache20152/csp/docbook/DocBook.UI.Page.cls?KEY=RSQL_substring) operator:
SELECT TOP 2 ID, SUBSTRING(Notes, 1) FROM Sample.Employee
It produces much more useful output:
ID Notes
101 Juanita used to work at TelePedia Inc. as a(n) Associate  Manager
102 Danielle used to work at MetaTel Corp. as a(n) Assistant WebMaster
  To limit the length of the stream property  use three argument form:
SELECT TOP 10 ID, SUBSTRING(Notes, 1, 100) FROM Sample.Employee 
In this example only the first 100 characters from a stream would be returned.