SQL Server: How to perform Rtrim on all varchar columns of a table

Question

I have over 30 columns in my table (sql server 2008). Columns type are varchar(x). I know that in every column there is two extra spaces at the end of column value. How to u

Answer 1

For a generic approach, you can use a script like this to generate the statement for you, for a given table (useful if you have many columns!):

DECLARE @SQL VARCHAR(MAX)
DECLARE @TableName NVARCHAR(128)
SET @TableName = 'YourTableName'

SELECT @SQL = COALESCE(@SQL + ',[', '[') + 
              COLUMN_NAME + ']=RTRIM([' + COLUMN_NAME + '])'
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
WHERE TABLE_NAME = @TableName
    AND DATA_TYPE = 'varchar'

SET @SQL = 'UPDATE [' + @TableName + '] SET ' + @SQL
PRINT @SQL

That will just print the SQL statement out. You can either then copy + run the statement, or just EXECUTE(@SQL). This is untested, so just try it out on a test table first :)