Efficient ISNUMERIC() replacements on SQL Server?

Question

So I just spent 5 hours troubleshooting a problem which turned out to be due not only to the old unreliable ISNUMERIC but it looks like my problem only appears

Answer 1

You can use the T-SQL functions TRY_CAST() or TRY_CONVERT() if you're running SQL Server 2012 as Bacon Bits mentions in the comments:

SELECT CASE WHEN TRY_CAST('foo' AS INT) IS NULL THEN 0 ELSE 1 END

SELECT CASE WHEN TRY_CAST(1 AS INT) IS NULL THEN 0 ELSE 1 END

If you're using SQL 2008 R2 or older, you'll have to use a .NET CLR function, and wrap System.Decimal.TryParse().