This is because EM will create a temporary table, copy your data over, and then drop the original table, recreate it, and then insert the old data into there and drop the temp table.
----- Original Message ----- From: Stan Winchester <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tuesday, August 5, 2003 10:45 am Subject: alter table question > I just tried to convert a column from text to varchar in query > analyzer using "ALTER TABLE dbo.tbl_Items ALTER COLUMN Item > varchar(50)""ALTER TABLE [table name] ALTER COLUMN [column name] > [datatype]" > The above example threw the following error: > > Server: Msg 4928, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 > Cannot alter column 'Item' because it is 'text'. > > However, I could change the datatype in Enterprise Manager from > text to varchar with no problems. NOTE: You will need to remove > any Contraints on the affected field before changing the datatype, > and then reapply any contraints as needed. > > It seems the alter statement works fine between varchar and int, > but not from text. There may be other datatypes that cannot be > converted through query analyzer, but might be alterable in > enterprise manager. Maybe some SQL guru might enlighten us all. > > Stan Winchester > > >is there a query analyzer way to alter the column datatype? > > > >I have some text columns that should been varchar, and I need to > change>them...i don't care about losing data, since its only 10-25 > characters>per cell... > > > >thanks! > > > >tony weeg > >uncertified advanced cold fusion developer > >tony at navtrak dot net > >www.navtrak.net > >office 410.548.2337 > >fax 410.860.2337 > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=4 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=4 FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.4
