I haven't found the complete answer but I wanted to update this post with what I have found.

The following Bulk Insert command will move data from a text file to...

Jeff,

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. It looks like the Format File will do all that I need. I assume if I do not specify a field in...

Paul,

I agree that explicit is clearer than implicit. I will reread your post and the reference a couple of times and will hopefully retain some of it.

In practice, I will...

Just to be complete in my post I should have shown:

Select Cast(2 as decimal(18,6))/cast(3 as Decimal(18,6))) from Table :666666666666666666

pat

Eugene and Paul,

Thanks for continuing the discussion. I can go back to my previous practice of choosing the smallest data type. I can use 1.0 * in all my divisions...

Eugene,

Thanks for clearing things up with points 1 and 2.

If you don't mind I would like explore question 3 a bit.

I am a VB programmer. Historically, I have done my...

Gail,

Thanks for the advice, especially pointing out that the way we are doing it requires an update to the data file. Our problem is a lack of resources.

Tomorrow the...

Jason,

Yes, I wasn't clear on that. It is detached. I am trying to attach it (a SQL 2000 database) to a SQLExpress 2008 instance.

pat

It was late. The DateAdd function is incorrect. It should read.

DateAdd("d",1,Now)

or in VB 2008

DateAdd(DateInterval.Day,1,now)

T-Sql to the left of the operator, VB to the right.

I understand. No functions on the left hand side of the operator.

If I want to reutrn the records Less than or equal to My Date then it will be

Where EndDt...

A friend suggested the following. It seems to be cleaner than mine.

Where cast(varchar(8),EndDt,112) <= Format('01/02/2009',"yyyyMMdd") Sorry for mixing T-SQL and VB.

However, both Jeff and Lynn bring up the issue of...

Jeff, I didn't know that the string conversions would slow things down. Thanks for that piece of information. I had used the increase the day by one trick previously. But...

Lynn,

Thanks for your replies. You have started me thinking in different direction than I had been. The problem I am trying to solve is one of comparing dates but not...

1. I should have backed up and restored. This solved the missing identity problem.

2. I disabled the Tools>options>Designers>table and database designers>Prevent saving changes that require table recreation.

This name is a...