Re: Newbie help: sql string conversion

From: David Portas (REMOVE_BEFORE_REPLYING_dportas_at_acm.org)
Date: 10/29/04 

Date: Fri, 29 Oct 2004 21:20:11 +0100

Create a new table, then use the query I gave you to INSERT into it:

INSERT INTO NewTable (...)
   SELECT ...
        FROM OldTable

But if the data is changing, maintaining two copies of it is hard work and
unnecessary. The usual practice is to validate and transform data once and
then maintain it in a consistent, strongly-typed relational format in the
database. If you validate the data properly once then you won't need the
original format again. If you don't then you pay the price every time you
query the table. 

-- 
David Portas
SQL Server MVP
--