Tag Archives: varchar

How to demonstrate the space usage of a Null Varchar(Max) column

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An empty Varchar(Max) column uses a negligible amount of disk space. The script below demonstrates this by creating the table TestTb which contains one column named NullColumn that has a Varchar(Max) data type. When the table is created the column NullColumn is populated with 100,000 rows of Null.

The two readings below show the table when it has just been created and the table with 100,000 rows entered.

Results

IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.TestTb', 'U') IS NOT NULL
	DROP TABLE dbo.TestTb;

CREATE TABLE TestTb (NullColumn VARCHAR(MAX));
GO

sp_spaceused 'TestTb';

DECLARE @i AS INT;

SET @i = 0;

WHILE @i < 100000
BEGIN
	INSERT INTO TestTb (NullColumn)
	VALUES (NULL)

	SET @i = @i + 1
END;
GO

sp_spaceused 'TestTb';

IF OBJECT_ID('dbo.TestTb', 'U') IS NOT NULL
	DROP TABLE dbo.TestTb;

 

How to get the hour from a datetime string (T-SQL)

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Often data is entered into the database as a string (varchar), when a more appropriate data type should have been applied.

Here’s a snippet of T-SQL for dealing with datetime data, stored as varchar, when what you really need is the hour. 

DECLARE @DateTime AS VARCHAR(25)

-- GET THE CURRENT DATETIME AND CONVERT INTO A STRING
SET @DateTime = (
		SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(25), GETDATE(), 120)
		)

--PRINT @DateTime
-- GET HOUR FROM DATETIME AS A STRING
SELECT DATEPART(HOUR, CONVERT(DATETIME, CONVERT(VARCHAR(13), @DateTime, 120) + ':00')) AS ConvertedHour

 

Why would data be stored as a varchar instead of using the appropriate data type in the first place?

The most common reason might be that XML files have been loaded without any data type conversions being applied, i.e. dates have been entered as strings along with everything else.

Why would you need this code?

Should you be confronted with data in this raw string form you would be unable to apply a clause regarding a specific hour. Ideally there should be some sort of staging table to convert the fields into the appropriate data types but if you simply wanted to apply some clauses to select specific data, which will be outputted to an excel file for example, that additional effort may be unnecessary.