ALTER TABLE to add NOT NULL fields

I'm using the following statement to create two new fields in a table:
ALTER TABLE tblActivity ADD LOGUserID [INT] NOT NULL, LOGDATE [DATETIME] NOT
NULL
When I run it in QA, I get this error message:
ALTER TABLE only allows columns to be added that can contain nulls or have a
DEFAULT definition specified. Column 'LOGUserID' cannot be added to table
'tblActivity' because it does not allow nulls and does not specify a DEFAULT
definition.
How can I get those two fields to be created via the ALTER TABLE statement,
I can not use Enterprise Manager, since the statement that I'm using is bein
g
generated by another script to add those fields to all the tables in the
database...You need to specify a default value...
ALTER TABLE tblActivity ADD LOGUserID [INT] NOT NULL, LOGDATE [DATETIME] NOT
NULL
DEFAULT( 0 )
Make sure whatever default value you specify is meaningful to your
application; also, you could drop the DEFAULT constraint afterward...
ALTER TABLE ... DROP CONSTRAINT ...
Example...
create table t (
id int null )
insert t values( 1 )
insert t values( null )
go
alter table t add mycol int not null default( 0 )
go
sp_help t
go
alter table t drop constraint DF__t__mycol__781FBE44
Tony.
Tony Rogerson
SQL Server MVP
http://sqlserverfaq.com - free video tutorials
"scuba79" <scuba79@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EB8AF4A5-1217-4ADD-8E41-291A1E812B46@.microsoft.com...
> I'm using the following statement to create two new fields in a table:
> ALTER TABLE tblActivity ADD LOGUserID [INT] NOT NULL, LOGDATE [DATETIME]
> NOT
> NULL
> When I run it in QA, I get this error message:
> ALTER TABLE only allows columns to be added that can contain nulls or have
> a
> DEFAULT definition specified. Column 'LOGUserID' cannot be added to table
> 'tblActivity' because it does not allow nulls and does not specify a
> DEFAULT
> definition.
> How can I get those two fields to be created via the ALTER TABLE
> statement,
> I can not use Enterprise Manager, since the statement that I'm using is
> being
> generated by another script to add those fields to all the tables in the
> database...|||To add on to Tony's response, you can specify an explicit constraint name to
make subsequent table maintenance easier:
ALTER TABLE tblActivity
ADD
LOGUserID [INT] NOT NULL
CONSTRAINT DF_tblActivity_LOGUserID DEFAULT( 0 ),
LOGDATE [DATETIME] NOT NULL
CONSTRAINT DF_tblActivity_LOGDATE DEFAULT( GETDATE() )
Hope this helps.
Dan Guzman
SQL Server MVP
"scuba79" <scuba79@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EB8AF4A5-1217-4ADD-8E41-291A1E812B46@.microsoft.com...
> I'm using the following statement to create two new fields in a table:
> ALTER TABLE tblActivity ADD LOGUserID [INT] NOT NULL, LOGDATE [DATETIME]
> NOT
> NULL
> When I run it in QA, I get this error message:
> ALTER TABLE only allows columns to be added that can contain nulls or have
> a
> DEFAULT definition specified. Column 'LOGUserID' cannot be added to table
> 'tblActivity' because it does not allow nulls and does not specify a
> DEFAULT
> definition.
> How can I get those two fields to be created via the ALTER TABLE
> statement,
> I can not use Enterprise Manager, since the statement that I'm using is
> being
> generated by another script to add those fields to all the tables in the
> database...sql

ALTER TABLE MODIFY

hi!

i encountered problems when running this code in SQL Query

ALTER TABLE [dbo].[amsSchedule]
MODIFY(CutOff1 datetime NULL,
[FileName] varchar(100) COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS NULL)

my aim is to modify the two fields to change its data type. BUt when im trying to run this command in the query analyzer, itsays "incorrect syntax error '(' "

What do i have to do? please help me...thanks

Hi,

ALTER TABLE (...) when modifying a column only supports one change at a time.

HTH, Jens Suessmeyer.

|||

Hi Jens!

Thanks a lot for the tip...now i know what to do since u told me that alter table only supports one change at a time...

thanks a lot!

ALTER TABLE dateAuto

I must add to an existing TABLE a column DateInsert
with a default value = date auto
if a new row is added the column must add datetime.now automaticly (like in acccess 2000) how can I do it ?
for MS SQL 2000
thank youCREATE TABLE #patp (
id INT IDENTITY
, asof DATETIME NOT NULL
DEFAULT GetDate()
, other VARCHAR(10) NULL
)

INSERT #patp (other) VALUES ('One')
INSERT #patp (other) VALUES ('Two')
INSERT #patp (other) VALUES ('Three')

SELECT * FROM #patp
-PatP|||alter table MyTable Add
DateAuto datetime CONSTRAINT DF_DateAuto DEFAULT (GetDate())|||thank you Pat Phelan and hmscott

great ! and fast !!!

Alter table - add default value

Helo Group,
In my database I have table :
idDoc (int) IDENTITY (1, 1),
UploadDate (datetime)
DocName (varchar).
Now I ought too add default value (getdate()) for new document.
How I can use Alter table for update structure my table.
thx
PawelRHi Pawel
The Books Online page for ALTER TABLE has a section called "Adding a default
constraint to an existing column". Books Online should always be the first
place you look for syntax help. I realize that ALTER TABLE is a long
article, but the information you need is there.
ALTER TABLE my_table
ADD CONSTRAINT col_uploadDate_def
DEFAULT getdate() FOR uploadDate
HTH
Kalen Delaney, SQL Server MVP
www.solidqualitylearning.com
"PawelR" <pawelratajczak;-at-;poczta;dot;onet;dot;pl> wrote in message
news:umBxwWVbGHA.4292@.TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Helo Group,
> In my database I have table :
> idDoc (int) IDENTITY (1, 1),
> UploadDate (datetime)
> DocName (varchar).
> Now I ought too add default value (getdate()) for new document.
> How I can use Alter table for update structure my table.
> thx
> PawelR
>|||You can update default constraint using Enterprise Manager.
In table design, you can spcify default value for uploaddate column.
"PawelR"?? ??? ??:

> Helo Group,
> In my database I have table :
> idDoc (int) IDENTITY (1, 1),
> UploadDate (datetime)
> DocName (varchar).
> Now I ought too add default value (getdate()) for new document.
> How I can use Alter table for update structure my table.
> thx
> PawelR
>
>