problem with SugarCRM get_note_attachment function

Question

When the attachment file is a image or doc file , then the response is not in xml format.not even in human readable format (when seen in soapUI),

and if the attachment file is a small text file , in this case the response is in xml format and file is got as base64 format string with the response in tag.

I want to download a attached Image and the response is god knows what format??

Please help me with this.

Thanks in advance