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Asked: 2026-05-26T17:53:32+00:00

I have the value 1555.4899999999998 stored in a float column with default precision (53).

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I have the value 1555.4899999999998 stored in a float column with default precision (53). When I do a simple select, SSMS rounds the output instead of printing it with all available precision. It’s caused some gotchas for me recently since the value printed doesn’t work as a float literal to match the actual stored value.

For example (note that both of these numbers have an exact representation in the default float),

declare @f1 float;
declare @f2 float;
set @f1 = 1555.49;
set @f2 = 1555.4899999999998;
select @f1, @f2;
select STR(@f1,30,15), STR(@f2,30,15);

Outputs:

1555.49 1555.49
1555.490000000000000    1555.489999999999800

In Query Analyzer, that first select outputs:

1555.49 1555.4899999999998

That’s the behavior I want to get from Management Studio. Is there a way to prevent SSMS from rounding in its result display?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    No.

    SQL Server Management Studio rounds floating point values for display purposes; there is a Connect suggestion to change this behavior, but it is closed "as By Design". (Microsoft Connect, a public issue tracker for Microsoft software has been retired)

    However, SQLCMD, osql and the Query Analyzer do not.

    SQLCMD -E -S server -Q"SELECT CONVERT(FLOAT, 1555.4899999999998)"
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