>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>       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
>

Thank you very much!