>I have a VFP query which I need to convert to SQL Server code, but obviously it is the wrong syntax.
>

>SELECT PADL(TRIM(emNumber), 99) From Employees
>

>It 's supposed to order a character value as if it is a numeric field, but the values can also contain characters to a conversion to numeric would not do it.

Try this:

SELECT RIGHT(SPACE(100) +LTRIM(emNumber), 99) from Employees