Article ID: 47180
Article Last Modified on 3/14/2005
APPLIES TO
- Microsoft SQL Server 4.21a Standard Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 6.0 Standard Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 Standard Edition
- Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 Standard Edition
This article was previously published under Q47180
SYMPTOMS
According to the "Microsoft SQL Server Language Reference" and Books Online, you can convert from a character to an integer. However, the following statement,
select convert(int,'A')
causes an error similar to the following:
CAUSE
A convert() from a char to an integer can only be done if it "makes sense." For example, you can convert the character "1" (one) to an integer, but you cannot convert the letter "A". For example
select convert(int,'1')
returns 1 as expected.
WORKAROUND
To return the ASCII numerical representation of a letter, use the ascii() function. For example
select ascii('A')
returns 65.
Additional query words: Transact-SQL Windows NT
Keywords: kbother KB47180
