Jim,

It only means that '-' cannot be converted to the real data type. It can be converted to int, though. Try

select cast('-' as int)

>
>put '12.00' in this table.
>
>Run following query.
>
>select cast(test as real) from table2
>
>It will return 12.00.
>
>add '-' in this table.
>
>When you run laat query, you will get error.
>
>
>Server: Msg 8114, Level 16, State 5, Line 3
>Error converting data type varchar to real.
>
>That means '-' is not numeric
>