Encountered arithmetic overflow error using decimal datatype in SQL server 2008

Question

I have a column declared as decimal(4,4). Currently it stores 0.0400 as the value. Now I need to update the value stored from 0.0400 to 9.95.I used the following query :

Update <tablename>
set <columnname>= 9.95
where <condition>

When I try to execute, I get the following error : Arithmetic overflow error converting numeric to data type numeric. The statement has been terminated.

Kindly help.

Answer 1

Defining a column as decimal(4,4) is the equivalent of saying

I will have 4 digits in total, of which 4 come after the decimal point

To represent 9.95, you'd need to store it as 9.9500 to satisfy the '4 decimal places' condition. But this now exceeds the 'max 4 digits' condition and so can't be converted.

You'd need at least decimal(5, 4) to store 9.95 as a decimal in this way.

Answer 2

If you write decimal(4,4), what the database hears is:

• There are four digits total
• All four of them are behind the decimal separator

So a decimal(4,4) can store the range 0.0000 to 0.9999 (and its negative equivalent). But 9.95 is outside that range, so it will return an error.