what is numeric(18, 0) in sql server 2008 r2

Agnieszka Polec picture Agnieszka Polec · Aug 7, 2014 · Viewed 177.8k times · Source

I found a table with this a column from this data type

numeric(18, 0)

what is that please? and why does 0 and 18 mean

I already check this question Difference between numeric, float and decimal in SQL Server but couldn't understand it.\

can I add (-10) in that column?

can I add all negative number in that column?

can I add any positive number in that column?

Update 1

This is a sample of the data I found in that column

100
263
13
2
9
4
3
3
28
15
33
16
135
50
64
60
100
500
150

Update 2 Is it possible to have - and + ?

Answer

christiandev picture christiandev · Aug 7, 2014

The first value is the precision and the second is the scale, so 18,0 is essentially 18 digits with 0 digits after the decimal place. If you had 18,2 for example, you would have 18 digits, two of which would come after the decimal...

example of 18,2: 1234567890123456.12

There is no functional difference between numeric and decimal, other that the name and I think I recall that numeric came first, as in an earlier version.

And to answer, "can I add (-10) in that column?" - Yes, you can.