How about using extended properties instead?

This approach will use field names from extended properties, or the original field name if the property is missing:

create

table

The biggest complaint I have is that I was so busy trying to get to all the sessions I never seemed to have time for the hands-on labs.  But I...

If the remote stored procedure call is faster, how about a stored procedure that returns the DOB in an output parameter?

I have also seen that slow linked server response is...

I remember reading somewhere that long IN lists are not efficient, they should be changed to joins.  I don't remember a specific definition of "long", but you might consider it. ...

Try sp_removedbreplication 'dbname'

This will clear replication from the specified database, without affecting other publications.

NULLS in the IN list can have strange effects.  If you're using "WHERE a IN (SELECT x FROM ...)", and [x] is a nullable field, its a good idea to include...

Sounds like transactional replication would be a good way to go.  It's fairly easy to configure, and there are lots of options for scheduling the timing of updates.

Some questions I would...

If you're saying that this will work if you change the last line to EXEC (@sql), then why not do that?  I don't know why sp_executesql can't handle it, but...

If its a permissions problem, its almost certainly an OS permissions problem not SQL Server and having "similar privelges to SA" may not be good enough.  To close security loopholes...

The previous post can help you list the names of detached databases, but not the detached files that I think you're looking for.

It sounds like you have a large file system (SAN?)...

I have to deal with a Teradata data warehouse and gave up on the ODBC driver long ago.  I don't know if it is Microsoft or Teradata code at fault,...

So if results over 75 chars are a problem, how can Query B (which returns a longer result) possibly work without using the workaround given in the explanation?  The question says the...

The question as posed says Query B works (in spite of the missing quote).  Assuming the missing quote is a misprint, are we to believe that Query B works without...

Ignore that last post, I reread the question and realize you want fixed-width numbers and the letters are extra.  Go back to Chris' solution.

If your goal is to pad with zeroes to a fixed width, this works with no CASE statements:

set housenumber = right('0000' + ltrim(rtrim(housenumber)), 4)

This assumes your desired field width is...