Sql-server – Should you choose the MONEY or DECIMAL(x,y) datatypes in SQL Server

sql-servertypes

I'm curious as to whether or not there is a real difference between the money datatype and something like decimal(19,4) (which is what money uses internally, I believe).

I'm aware that money is specific to SQL Server. I want to know if there is a compelling reason to choose one over the other; most SQL Server samples (e.g. the AdventureWorks database) use money and not decimal for things like price information.

Should I just continue to use the money datatype, or is there a benefit to using decimal instead? Money is fewer characters to type, but that's not a valid reason 🙂

Best Solution

Never ever should you use money. It is not precise, and it is pure garbage; always use decimal/numeric.

Run this to see what I mean:

DECLARE
    @mon1 MONEY,
    @mon2 MONEY,
    @mon3 MONEY,
    @mon4 MONEY,
    @num1 DECIMAL(19,4),
    @num2 DECIMAL(19,4),
    @num3 DECIMAL(19,4),
    @num4 DECIMAL(19,4)

    SELECT
    @mon1 = 100, @mon2 = 339, @mon3 = 10000,
    @num1 = 100, @num2 = 339, @num3 = 10000

    SET @mon4 = @mon1/@mon2*@mon3
    SET @num4 = @num1/@num2*@num3

    SELECT @mon4 AS moneyresult,
    @num4 AS numericresult

Output: 2949.0000 2949.8525

To some of the people who said that you don't divide money by money:

Here is one of my queries to calculate correlations, and changing that to money gives wrong results.

select t1.index_id,t2.index_id,(avg(t1.monret*t2.monret)
    -(avg(t1.monret) * avg(t2.monret)))
            /((sqrt(avg(square(t1.monret)) - square(avg(t1.monret))))
            *(sqrt(avg(square(t2.monret)) - square(avg(t2.monret))))),
current_timestamp,@MaxDate
            from Table1 t1  join Table1 t2  on t1.Date = traDate
            group by t1.index_id,t2.index_id

Syntax:

ALTER TABLE {TABLENAME} 
ADD {COLUMNNAME} {TYPE} {NULL|NOT NULL} 
CONSTRAINT {CONSTRAINT_NAME} DEFAULT {DEFAULT_VALUE}
WITH VALUES

Example:

ALTER TABLE SomeTable
        ADD SomeCol Bit NULL --Or NOT NULL.
 CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol --When Omitted a Default-Constraint Name is autogenerated.
    DEFAULT (0)--Optional Default-Constraint.
WITH VALUES --Add if Column is Nullable and you want the Default Value for Existing Records.

Notes:

Optional Constraint Name:
If you leave out CONSTRAINT D_SomeTable_SomeCol then SQL Server will autogenerate
a Default-Contraint with a funny Name like: DF__SomeTa__SomeC__4FB7FEF6

Optional With-Values Statement:
The WITH VALUES is only needed when your Column is Nullable
and you want the Default Value used for Existing Records.
If your Column is NOT NULL, then it will automatically use the Default Value
for all Existing Records, whether you specify WITH VALUES or not.

How Inserts work with a Default-Constraint:
If you insert a Record into SomeTable and do not Specify SomeCol's value, then it will Default to 0.
If you insert a Record and Specify SomeCol's value as NULL (and your column allows nulls),
then the Default-Constraint will not be used and NULL will be inserted as the Value.

Notes were based on everyone's great feedback below.
Special Thanks to:
@Yatrix, @WalterStabosz, @YahooSerious, and @StackMan for their Comments.

Sql – How to return only the Date from a SQL Server DateTime datatype

SELECT DATEADD(dd, 0, DATEDIFF(dd, 0, @your_date))

for example

SELECT DATEADD(dd, 0, DATEDIFF(dd, 0, GETDATE()))

gives me

2008-09-22 00:00:00.000

Pros:

No varchar<->datetime conversions required
No need to think about locale

Best Solution

Related Solutions

Sql – Add a column with a default value to an existing table in SQL Server

Syntax:

Example:

Notes:

Sql – How to return only the Date from a SQL Server DateTime datatype

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