Microsoft SQL Server Topics: Declaring Variables

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Declaring a Variable
Introduction
To declare a variable, you use the DECLARE operator in the following formula: DECLARE @VariableName DataType; Here is an example: DECLARE @Category int; You can also declare more than one variable. To do that, separate them with a comma. The formula would be: DECLARE @Variable1 DataType1, @Variable2 DataType2, @Variable_n DataType_n; Unlike many other languages like C/C++, C#, Java, or Pascal, if you declare many variables that use the same data type, the name of each variable must be followed by its own data type.

Initializing a Variable
After declaring a variable, to initialize it, type the SELECT or the SET keyword followed by the name of the variable, followed by the assignment operator "=", followed by an appropriate value. The formula used is: SELECT @VariableName = DesiredValue or SET @VariableName = DesiredValue Here is an example DECLARE @Category int SET @Category = 1450 PRINT @Category GO This would produce: (1 rows affected) 1> DECLARE @Category INT; 2> SET @Category = 1450; 3> PRINT @Category; 4> GO 1450 (1 rows affected) Here is another example:
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Microsoft SQL Server Topics: Declaring Variables

1> DECLARE @StudentAge tinyint; 2> SET @StudentAge = 14; 3> SELECT @StudentAge AS [Student's Age]; 4> GO Student's Age ------------14 (1 rows affected) Here is another example: 1> DECLARE @NumberOfPages SMALLINT; 2> SET @NumberOfPages = 16; 3> SELECT @NumberOfPages AS [Number of Pages]; 4> GO Number of Pages --------------16 (1 rows affected) Here is another example: 1> DECLARE @CountryPopulation BigInt; 2> SET @CountryPopulation = 16500000; 3> SELECT @CountryPopulation AS 'Country Population'; 4> GO Country Population -------------------16500000 (1 rows affected) Here is another example: 1> DECLARE @Distance DECIMAL; 2> SET @Distance = 648.16; 3> PRINT @Distance; 4> GO 648 Here is another example: 1> DECLARE @Radius FLOAT; 2> SET @Radius = 48.16; 3> SELECT @Radius AS Radius; 4> GO Radius -----------------------48.159999999999997 (1 rows affected) Here is another example:

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Microsoft SQL Server Topics: Declaring Variables

Here is another example: 1> DECLARE @YearlyIncome Money; 2> SET @YearlyIncome = 48500.15; 3> SELECT @YearlyIncome AS [Yearly Income]; 4> GO Yearly Income --------------------48500.1500 (1 rows affected) Here is another example: 1> DECLARE @IndependenceDay DATETIME; 2> SET @IndependenceDay = '01/01/1960'; 3> SELECT @IndependenceDay AS [Independence Day]; 4> GO Independence Day ----------------------1960-01-01 00:00:00.000 (1 rows affected) Here is another example: 1> DECLARE @ArrivalTime datetime; 2> SET @ArrivalTime = '18:22'; 3> SELECT @ArrivalTime AS [Arrival Time]; 4> GO Arrival Time ----------------------1900-01-01 18:22:00.000 (1 rows affected)

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Microsoft SQL Server Topics: Declaring Variables

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