Importing numerics from Excel..

  • I'm setting up a DTS package that will import data both numeric and alpha.

    The DTS will import the data to a staging table first and copy each row after validation to a live table.

    for numeric, financial data, with 2 decimal places what data type is best for me in my import SQL table.

    Float? Numeric (10,2) ?? or varchar?

    any help welcome.

    Thanks,

    Eamon

  • Well it depends on how reliable the data is.

    I've worked on systems where it was spec'd as a numeric, only to find out 3 weeks into production they passed alpha's.

    So if your data is extremely reliable, then numeric is fine, you might also consider using the money data type depending on how accurate the info they send is.

    if the data is not reliable then you should consider varchar, then part of your validation is checking that the value will fit the data type you want to use in the live table.

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