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 constraint to add in a default value (getdate()).

So far I've got the following script, which works fine provided that i've cleaned up all the nulls beforehand:

ALTER TABLE dbo.MyTable ALTER COLUMN Created DATETIME NOT NULL  

Is there any way to also specify the default value as well on the ALTER statement?

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  

Answer 2

You may have to first update all the records that are null to the default value then use the alter table statement.

Update dbo.TableName Set Created="01/01/2000" where Created is NULL