Error 2731

Troubleshooting SQL Server

Troubleshooting

Error 2731

Severity Level 16
Message Text

Column '%.*ls' has invalid width: %d.

Explanation

This error occurs when a user is attempting to create a view in which a column is empty, or has a length that is less than or equal to 0. This is not allowed in Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000.

An example of a query which generates this error follows. Note that the data for CategoryName is 0-length.

CREATE VIEW myview AS

SELECT CategoryName = '', p.ProductName, c.Description

FROM Products p, Categories c

WHERE p.CategoryId = c.CategoryId

AND p.UnitsInStock > 0

GO

Action

You can resolve this error by:

  • Not using zero-length columns when creating a view.

  • Specifying a default value for column length. For example:
    create view myview as char(10) "empty column"