Constants (Database Engine)
A constant is a symbol that represents a specific data value. The format of a constant depends on the data type of the value it represents. Constants are also called literals. The following tables shows some examples of how constants are used.
Constants used in | Example |
---|---|
Character strings |
|
Unicode strings |
|
Binary string constants |
|
bit constants |
|
datetime constants |
|
integer constants |
|
decimal constants |
|
float and real constants |
|
money constants |
|
uniqueidentifier constants |
|
For numeric constants, to specify the sign of the numeric value use the unary + and - operators:
+$156.45
-73.52E8
-129.42
+442
Character and Unicode constants are assigned the default collation of the current database, unless you assign a specific collation by using the COLLATE clause, for example:
'abc' COLLATE French_CI_AI
N'lustig' COLLATE German_Phonebook_CS_AS
Using Constants in Transact-SQL
In Transact-SQL, constants can be used in many ways. The following are some examples:
As a constant value in an arithmetic expression:
SELECT Price + $.10 FROM MyTable
As the data value of a column that is compared in a WHERE clause:
SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE LastName = 'O''Brien'
As the data value to be put in a variable:
SET @DecimalVar = -1200.02
As the data value that should be put in a column of the current row. This is specified with the SET clause of the UPDATE statement or the VALUES clause of an INSERT statement:
UPDATE MyTable SET Price = $99.99 WHERE PartNmbr = 1234 INSERT INTO MyTable VALUES (1235, $88.88)
As the character string that specifies the text of the message issued by a PRINT or RAISERROR statement:
PRINT 'This is a message.'
As the value to test for in a conditional statement such as an IF statement or CASE functions:
IF (@@SALESTOTAL > $100000.00) EXECUTE Give_Bonus_Procedure
See Also
Other Resources
Constants (Transact-SQL)
INSERT (Transact-SQL)
Expressions (Transact-SQL)
LIKE (Transact-SQL)
Operators (Transact-SQL)
PRINT (Transact-SQL)
ALTER TABLE (Transact-SQL)
RAISERROR (Transact-SQL)
CREATE TABLE (Transact-SQL)
UPDATE (Transact-SQL)
DELETE (Transact-SQL)
WHERE (Transact-SQL)