EDIT... nevermind, I found it. I was concatenating a datetime variable, I had to cast that. Thanks for the point in the right direction.

Sean, I used varchar(Max) and the string was truncated. Is that a 2005 vs 2008 difference? Because i tried dynamic SQL first. Maybe I'll try...

I wasn't disagreeing with you about the way that SQL works... I was "hoping" there was a way around it 😉

I'm only disagreeing with the sentiment that listing out the...

I do appreciate the help...

But I 100% disagree that I "should" explicitly define the columns. I understand the performance benefit but I "should" do whatever I need to...

menon.satyen (11/5/2012)

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Hi David,

You have an incorrect query thats the reason why I asked for sp_help tables.

1. When you do an insert with record_change_date the end then it means the last...

Sean Lange (11/5/2012)

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Looks like all you need is:

Insert Into [Table1]

Select *, GETDATE()

From [Table2]

Where Record_ID NOT IN (Select Record_ID From Table1)

You could also make your Record_Change_date not null with a...

LOL I dont know why everyone gets cross-eyed at the 1=1 (it's just a syntax used for easier troubleshooting and it's ignored by the query engine, so no overhead)

I've attached...

Yes... I was trying everything possible. I originally didn't do anything with it.. it used to be select *, @changeDate As [Record_Change_Date]

So I tried it just using the var,...

Matt Miller (#4) (9/21/2012)

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The short answer is - "whatever is most expedient to meet the query at the time of execution". Which is unfortunately where determinism comes in: if...

So if I'm reading that correctly the answer is... "I dont know"... There is no defined rule for SQL to determine how to proceed, it very well could appear random...