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POConverting number stored in a VARCHAR field in SQL Server
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I have a table with payments stored in a column that is of type <code>VARCHAR</code> This is a sample data from the field: <pre><code>10.01 55.11 </code></pre> Lately, as part of a new request, we had to remove the decimal point from the number we store in the <code>VARCHAR</code> column. So, I had this: <pre><code>CONVERT(BIGINT, CONVERT(REAL, RTRIM(LTRIM(@amt))) * 100) as PaymentAmount </code></pre> to convert to <code>REAL</code> (cannot convert to <code>BIGINT</code> from <code>VARCHAR</code>), multiply by 100 and then convert to <code>BIGINT</code> Now the issue is, sometimes, during conversion, the end result is 1 cent less. Example: <code>'10.11'</code> gets converted to <code>1010</code>, <code>10.15</code> to <code>1014</code> Easy way to test this: <pre><code>SELECT CONVERT(BIGINT, CONVERT(REAL, RTRIM(LTRIM(10.15))) * 100) as PaymentAmount </code></pre> The result of the query is <code>1014</code>. I fixed the issue by changing conversion from <code>REAL</code> to <code>FLOAT</code> and removed conversion to <code>BIGINT</code>. An alternative fix is to use <code>CAST</code> like this: <pre><code>CAST(@amt as float)*100 as PaymentAmount </code></pre> I ran conversions with numbers ranging from <code>10.00</code> to <code>10.99</code> and in that range of 100 values, the wrong numbers are: <ul> <li><code>10.11</code> converts to <code>1010</code></li> <li><code>10.15</code> converts to <code>1014</code></li> <li><code>10.19</code> converts to <code>1018</code></li> <li><code>10.23</code> converts to <code>1022</code></li> </ul> All other values from that range are fine. Curiously, <code>11.11</code> converts just fine to <code>1111</code>. So the question is, Why the heck is doing it and whats the pattern? From the <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187752.aspx" rel="nofollow">DataType MSDN</a> REAL is not a precise number, but so is FLOAT and yet float works for the whole range. EDIT: I failed to mention the <code>varchar</code> is of size 1000.
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Converting number stored in a VARCHAR field in SQL Server
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