Defaults
Defaults specify what values are used in a column if you do not specify a value for the column when you insert a row. Defaults can be anything that evaluates to a constant, such as a constant, built-in function, or mathematical expression.
To apply defaults, create a default definition by using the DEFAULT keyword in CREATE TABLE. This assigns a constant expression as a default on a column. For more information, see Creating and Modifying DEFAULT Definitions.
The following example creates a table that uses different types of default expressions. It creates a default object to assign a default to one column, and binds the default object to the column. It then does a test insert without specifying values for the columns with defaults and retrieves the test row to verify the defaults were applied.
USE AdventureWorks;
GO
CREATE TABLE test_defaults
(keycol smallint,
process_id smallint DEFAULT @@SPID, --Preferred default definition
date_ins datetime DEFAULT getdate(), --Preferred default definition
mathcol smallint DEFAULT 10 * 2, --Preferred default definition
char1 char(3),
char2 char(3) DEFAULT 'xyz') --Preferred default definition;
GO
/* For illustration only, use DEFAULT definitions instead.*/
CREATE DEFAULT abc_const AS 'abc';
GO
sp_bindefault abc_const, 'test_defaults.char1';
GO
INSERT INTO test_defaults(keycol) VALUES (1);
GO
SELECT * FROM test_defaults;
GO
Here is the result set.
Default bound to column.
(1 row(s) affected)
keycol process_id date_ins mathcol char1 char2
------ ---------- --------------------------- ------- ----- -----
1 7 Oct 16 1997 8:34PM 20 abc xyz
(1 row(s) affected)