Computed column should result to string

sql sql-server-2005 string calculated-columns

OrElse · Mar 18, 2010 · Viewed 15.1k times · Source

Here is a snap of my database.

Both col1 and col2 are declared as int.

My ComputedColumn currently adds the Columns 1 and 2, as follows...

col1  col2  ComputedColumn
1     2     3
4     1     5

Instead of this, my ComputedColumn should join the columns 1 and 2 (includimg the '-' character in the middle) as follows...

col1  col2  ComputedColumn
1     2     1-2
4     1     4-1

So, what is the correct syntax?

Answer

You're probably defining your computed column as col1+col2. Try CAST(col1 AS NVARCHAR(MAX))+'-'+CAST(col2 AS NVARCHAR(MAX)) instead.

Or if you prefer, you can replace NVARCHAR(MAX) with NVARCHAR(10) or a different length of your choice.