Change a Nullable column to NOT NULL with Default Value

Question

I came across an old table today with a datetime column called \'Created\' which allows nulls. Now, I\'d want to change this so that it is NOT NULL, and also include a constrai

Answer 1

I think you will need to do this as three separate statements. I've been looking around and everything i've seen seems to suggest you can do it if you are adding a column, but not if you are altering one.

ALTER TABLE dbo.MyTable
ADD CONSTRAINT my_Con DEFAULT GETDATE() for created

UPDATE MyTable SET Created = GetDate() where Created IS NULL

ALTER TABLE dbo.MyTable 
ALTER COLUMN Created DATETIME NOT NULL