nText datatype

Question

Hi I have below query Select Top 1 (A0.Text) from Sls . It is ntext datatype. It is not displaying full text Error - The datatype nText cannot be used as an operand to the Union Thanks

Jayraj Chhaya · Answer

The nText datatype in SQL Server is used to store large amounts of text data. However, there are certain limitations and considerations when working with this datatype. Firstly, the nText datatype is deprecated in SQL Server. It is recommended to use the nvarchar(max) datatype instead, which provides similar functionality but with better performance. Regarding the issue of not displaying the full text, it is important to note that the nText datatype has a maximum storage size of 2^30-1 bytes. If the text being stored exceeds this limit, it may be truncated when retrieved. To ensure that the full text is displayed, you can use the CAST or CONVERT function to convert the nText datatype to nvarchar(max) or varchar(max), respectively. Here's an example of how you can modify your query to display the full text: SELECT TOP 1 CAST(A0.Text AS nvarchar(max)) AS FullText FROM Sls As for the error related to using the nText datatype as an operand in a UNION operation, it is not possible to directly use the nText datatype in a UNION. To resolve this issue, you can again use the CAST or CONVERT function to convert the nText datatype to nvarchar(max) or varchar(max) before performing the UNION operation. SELECT CAST(A0.Text AS nvarchar(max)) AS FullText FROM Sls UNION SELECT CAST(B0.Text AS nvarchar(max)) AS FullText FROM OtherTable