Import data with leading zeros - SQL Server

Question

I\'m trying to import data into a table. I\'m doing a bulk insert. I\'ve created the table using a CREATE statement where all fields are nvarchar(max). I cannot understand why w

Answer 1

I suggest that you define the number of zeros that do you want and then make an update. Here is an example with 10 zeros.

create table #leadingZeros(uglynumber nvarchar(max),handsomenumber nvarchar(max),nicenumber nvarchar(max))
INSERT INTO #leadingZeros VALUES(1000000,0000123,0500000)

SELECT * FROM #leadingZeros
--OUTPUT:
--uglynumber    handsomenumber  nicenumber
--1000000   123     500000
UPDATE #leadingZeros SET 
uglynumber=RIGHT('0000000000'+uglynumber,10)
,handsomenumber=RIGHT('0000000000'+handsomenumber,10)
,nicenumber=RIGHT('0000000000'+nicenumber,10)

SELECT * FROM #leadingZeros
--OUTPUT
--uglynumber    handsomenumber  nicenumber
--0001000000    0000000123  0000500000