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Asked: 2026-05-14T07:07:09+00:00

This SQL Server 2005 T-SQL code: DECLARE @Test1 varchar; SET @Test1 = ‘dog’; DECLARE

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This SQL Server 2005 T-SQL code:

DECLARE @Test1 varchar;
SET @Test1 = 'dog';

DECLARE @Test2 varchar(10);
SET @Test2 = 'cat';

SELECT @Test1 AS Result1, @Test2 AS Result2;

produces:

Result1 = d
Result2 = cat

I would expect either

  1. The assignment SET @Test1 =
    'dog';     to fail because there isn’t
    enough room in @Test1
  2. Or the SELECT to return ‘dog’ in the Result1 column.

What is up with @Test1? Could someone please explain this behavior?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Let me answer with some quotes from the SQL Server documentation.

    char and varchar

    varchar[(n)]

    …

    When n is not specified in a data definition or variable declaration statement, the default length is 1.

    Converting Character Data

    When character expressions are converted to a character data type of a different size, values that are too long for the new data type are truncated.

    So, your varchar is declared as a varchar(1), and the implicit conversion in your SET statement (from a string literal of length 3 to a varchar(1)) truncates dog to d.

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