>>>>>>

>>>>>>       DECLARE @aaa varchar(200)
>>>>>>       SELECT  @aaa = OBJECT_NAME(constid) FROM sysconstraints WHERE OBJECT_NAME(Id) = 'YourTableName' AND OBJECT_NAME(constid) LIKE '%YourColumnName%'
>>>>>>       IF @aaa IS NOT NULL
>>>>>>          BEGIN
>>>>>>              SET @aaa = 'ALTER TABLE YourTableName DROP CONSTRAINT '+@aaa
>>>>>>              EXEC (@aaa)
>>>>>>          END
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>       ALTER TABLE YourTableName ALTER COLUMN ....
>>>>>>

>>>>>
>>>>>Borislav,
>>>>>
>>>>>Thank you very much! You code works. However the resulting column loses the default constraint and accepts NULL.
>>>>>Do I have to create the default constraint, after your code, and then Alter the column and remove the NULL?
>>>>
>>>>DROP constraint first if it exists, create not nullable column with the default constraint (you can use the same name for constraint as before)
>>>
>>>Thank you.
>>
>>You could define your column with the ALTER TABLE command:
>>

>>ALTER TABLE ... ALTER COLUMN .... varchar(max) NOT NULL CONSTRAINT DF_TableName_ColumName DEFAULT ''
>>

>
>Can you think of why I am getting the error on the CONSTRAINT? The line is underlined with red and the error:
>

>Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'CONSTRAINT'.
>

Try

     ALTER TABLE ... ALTER COLUMN .... varchar(max) NOT NULL 
     ALTER TABLE ... ADD CONSTRAINT DF_TableName_ColumnName  DEFAULT ('') FOR ColumnName