Question

Here is my example view (contrived I know but shows my problem):

CREATE VIEW NullTest
AS
SELECT
    1 AS IntNoConvert, 
    CONVERT(BIT, 1) AS IntConvert, 
    CAST(1 AS BIT) AS IntCast

The final views as the data types as:

IntNoConvert (int, not null)
IntConvert (bit, null)
IntCast (bit null)

So the CONVERT and CAST make the column allow NULLs – not normally a problem in views but am I am using LinqToSql ontop of this, I need the datatypes to be NOT NULL.

Any ideas how to make the CONVERT statement return the data as NOT NULL?

Answer 1

Use the SQL IsNull function to ensure non-nullability:

CREATE VIEW NullTest
AS
SELECT
    1 AS IntNoConvert, 
    IsNull(CONVERT(BIT, 1), 1) AS IntConvert, 
    IsNull(CAST(1 AS BIT), 1) AS IntCast

This feels a little hacky so I agree with a1ex07’s comment that you should define the non-nullability in your model instead.