Convert GUID to varchar(32)

Question

How can I convert a GUID which is 36 characters to a VARCHAR(32)?

I'm trying to copy data from one table to another. There are two similar columns from these two tables.

1. Table1.colx is a GUID so it is 36 characters in length in total due to the hyphens
2. The corresponding column is table2.colx but it is a VARCHAR(32)

I am looking for a way to convert a GUID to VARCHAR, but I've got to remove the hyphens. So far I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to find a way to do this.

Answer 1

I assume this is SQL Server, from the SSMS tag.

Convert the GUID to a string, then replace the hyphens with empty strings:

REPLACE(CAST(table1.colx AS VARCHAR(36)),'-','')