FWIW, this is legal to do in Oracle. I wonder if it is legal in SQL Server.
>I need to amend my initial reply here. What does not work is a union where the same field in the second query is a smaller size. For example
SELECT cName FROM mytable UNION SELECT cName FROM someothertable
results in error 1851 if cName is C(10) in mytable and C(1) in someothertable (i.e., smaller but not identical).
>
>No error is generated if you use space(1) in the second query
SELECT cName FROM mytable UNION SELECT SPACE(1) FROM someothertable
although the result is not necessarily what one would expect.
Mark McCasland
Midlothian, TX USA