The mysteries of life, the beginning of the 20th century

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The mysteries of life, the beginning of the 20th century

JaimePC

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March 21, 2015 at 6:31 pm

#296179

Comments posted to this topic are about the item The mysteries of life, the beginning of the 20th century

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Hany Helmy SSChampion Points: 13921 More actions · Answer 1

Very interesting question, thanx.

Thanks & Best Regards,
Hany Helmy
SQL Server Database Consultant

palotaiarpad SSCertifiable Points: 5617 More actions · Answer 2

Without running the code i thought, the variable declaration will throw an error.:-D

(Just to be sure: aren't we in the 21st century? :cool:)

Carlo Romagnano SSC-Insane Points: 22668 More actions · Answer 3

Carlo Romagnano

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March 23, 2015 at 2:03 am

#1785627

Simpaticissimo!

:-D:-D:-D:-D:-D

Rune Bivrin SSCrazy Eights Points: 8511 More actions · Answer 4

Can't really say anything positive about a question which relies on regional settings for correct answer, and which doesn't really promulgate any useful knowledge. Why would I want to do anything like that? Or even encounter it in any existing code? It's just too arcane...

Just because you're right doesn't mean everybody else is wrong.

Koen Verbeeck SSC Guru Points: 259105 More actions · Answer 5

Strange question...

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Sean of the Lynchmob Ten Centuries Points: 1038 More actions · Answer 6

palotaiarpad (3/23/2015)
Without running the code i thought, the variable declaration will throw an error.:-D

I thought the same. So, having been told I had got it wrong, I ran the code and got the following:

Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 1

Incorrect syntax near '('.

Msg 137, Level 15, State 2, Line 2

Must declare the scalar variable "@".

I am stuck as to where the 'correct' answer of '77' is displayed - ???????

Sean

SQL Swerver Hall of Fame Points: 3074 More actions · Answer 7

I personally thought this code would error due to variable-declaration handling so I did learn a little 🙂

But I don't see the connection between the title and the question raised.

andrew_dale Ten Centuries Points: 1280 More actions · Answer 8

(2015+3+11)-(1900+1+1) gives 127

as that field is declared as a smalldatetime, it becomes the 126th day of the year 1900 (0th day is 1900-01-01)

this is confirmed by running select @ which returns 1900-05-08 00:00:00

the ASCII function takes a varchar so the smalldatetime is implicitly converted to varchar first

if we explicitly convert it using select cast(@ as varchar (20) ) I get May 8 1900 12:00AM

the ASCII function takes the first character from the varchar, which is the letter M so returns 77 which is its ASCII code

so I agree with Rune Bivrin, in that it is a stupid question as it relies on regional settings, and why would you ever what the ASCII value of the first character from the date?

sipas Hall of Fame Points: 3828 More actions · Answer 9

Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 1
Incorrect syntax near '('.
Msg 137, Level 15, State 2, Line 2
Must declare the scalar variable "@".
I am stuck as to where the 'correct' answer of '77' is displayed - ???????
Sean

Depends on your version of SQL Server. E.g. in 2005 run:

declare @ smalldatetime

set @ = (2015+3+11)-(1900+1+1)

select ascii(@)

and you may get 77 depending on your regional settings.

Odd one but I'm sure someone learns something even from the 'why would you ever want to do this?' type questions.

Ed Wagner SSC Guru Points: 287026 More actions · Answer 10

An interesting one to be sure.

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dlaughlin 24148 Old Hand Points: 355 More actions · Answer 11

Nice to see that 4% of respondents chose the "Don't choose this" option. 🙂

sestell1 SSChampion Points: 10230 More actions · Answer 12

Rune Bivrin (3/23/2015)
Can't really say anything positive about a question which relies on regional settings for correct answer, and which doesn't really promulgate any useful knowledge. Why would I want to do anything like that? Or even encounter it in any existing code? It's just too arcane...

I found it very interesting that you could declare '@' as a variable. I did not know that. I could see this happening accidentally at some point, so it's good to know that won't actually throw an error.

webrunner SSC-Dedicated Points: 31862 More actions · Answer 13

Thanks for the question. But shouldn't the SSC assistant's name be Little Stevie? 😉

- webrunner

-------------------
A SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. He walks up to them and asks, "Can I join you?"
Ref.: http://tkyte.blogspot.com/2009/02/sql-joke.html

Revenant SSC-Forever Points: 42467 More actions · Answer 14

andrew_dale (3/23/2015)
(2015+3+11)-(1900+1+1) gives 127
as that field is declared as a smalldatetime, it becomes the 126th day of the year 1900 (0th day is 1900-01-01)
this is confirmed by running select @ which returns 1900-05-08 00:00:00
the ASCII function takes a varchar so the smalldatetime is implicitly converted to varchar first
if we explicitly convert it using select cast(@ as varchar (20) ) I get May 8 1900 12:00AM
the ASCII function takes the first character from the varchar, which is the letter M so returns 77 which is its ASCII code
so I agree with Rune Bivrin, in that it is a stupid question as it relies on regional settings, and why would you ever what the ASCII value of the first character from the date?

Well, the category is 'Humor'...