char datatype padding

I noticed that when creating a char(5) field in SQL 2005 it places any
padding on the right of the value in there...for example I put in a value =
'50' and when I do a select on it with single quotes surrounding the value it
returns '50 ' . I was just wondering if that is a setting in SQL that can
be changed to have the padding at the front of the value instead at the end?
Or, what is a good way of getting that padding at to the front?
Thanks in advance,
John Scott.
John Scott,
It looks like you want 'numeric' formatting, so you could change from a
CHAR(5) to an INT or another appropriate numeric type and let the UI format
it for you. If you really want want you describe, however, you can:
RIGHT(' ' + RTRIM(YourColumn), 5)
RLF
"John Scott" <johnscott@.despammed.com> wrote in message
news:9CFED437-37A2-4157-A6D9-BC7051AD6ED1@.microsoft.com...
>I noticed that when creating a char(5) field in SQL 2005 it places any
> padding on the right of the value in there...for example I put in a value
> =
> '50' and when I do a select on it with single quotes surrounding the value
> it
> returns '50 ' . I was just wondering if that is a setting in SQL that
> can
> be changed to have the padding at the front of the value instead at the
> end?
> Or, what is a good way of getting that padding at to the front?
>
> --
> Thanks in advance,
> John Scott.
|||Of course, that falls apart if somebody typed leading blanks. Such as would
be the case after one edit. So...
RIGHT(' ' + LTRIM(RTRIM(YourColumn)), 5)
RLF
"John Scott" <johnscott@.despammed.com> wrote in message
news:9CFED437-37A2-4157-A6D9-BC7051AD6ED1@.microsoft.com...
>I noticed that when creating a char(5) field in SQL 2005 it places any
> padding on the right of the value in there...for example I put in a value
> =
> '50' and when I do a select on it with single quotes surrounding the value
> it
> returns '50 ' . I was just wondering if that is a setting in SQL that
> can
> be changed to have the padding at the front of the value instead at the
> end?
> Or, what is a good way of getting that padding at to the front?
>
> --
> Thanks in advance,
> John Scott.
|||Thanks for the help Russell!!
Thanks,
John Scott.
"Russell Fields" wrote:

> Of course, that falls apart if somebody typed leading blanks. Such as would
> be the case after one edit. So...
> RIGHT(' ' + LTRIM(RTRIM(YourColumn)), 5)
> RLF
> "John Scott" <johnscott@.despammed.com> wrote in message
> news:9CFED437-37A2-4157-A6D9-BC7051AD6ED1@.microsoft.com...
>
>