The [Ranking] field is showing as "Nullable" due to being a computed column. Yes, it is declared as NOT NULL, but as the MSDN page for Computed Columns states, the database engine can change that determination at query-time:
The Database Engine automatically determines the nullability of computed columns based on the expressions used. The result of most expressions is considered nullable even if only nonnullable columns are present, because possible underflows or overflows will produce null results as well. Use the COLUMNPROPERTY function with the AllowsNull property to investigate the nullability of any computed column in a table. An expression that is nullable can be turned into a nonnullable one by specifying ISNULL(check_expression, constant), where the constant is a nonnull value substituted for any null result.
So, let's see if this is true:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Realty](
[Id] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[RankingBonus] [int] NOT NULL,
[Ranking] AS ([Id]+[RankingBonus]) PERSISTED NOT NULL
);
GO
EXEC sp_help 'dbo.Realty';
-- Ranking: Nullable = "no"
SELECT COLUMNPROPERTY(OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.Realty'), N'Ranking', 'AllowsNull') AS [AllowsNull?];
-- 0
SELECT * FROM sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set(N'SELECT * FROM dbo.Realty', '', NULL);
-- Ranking: is_nullable = 1 == :-(
Now let's see if their advice regarding ISNULL works:
SELECT * FROM sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set(
N'SELECT Id, RankingBonus, ISNULL(Ranking, -99) AS [RealRanking] FROM dbo.Realty;',
'',
NULL);
-- RealRanking: is_nullable = 0
Their advice does seem accurate, so let's try applying that to the definition of the computed column:
ALTER TABLE dbo.Realty
ADD [RankingFixed] AS (ISNULL(([Id]+[RankingBonus]), -99))
PERSISTED NOT NULL;
GO
And now we check the properties again, but for the new field:
EXEC sp_help 'dbo.Realty';
-- RankingFixed: Nullable = "no"
SELECT COLUMNPROPERTY(OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.Realty'),
N'RankingFixed',
'AllowsNull') AS [AllowsNullsNow?];
-- 0
This is looking positive so far, but even the original definition reported "NOT NULL" from these two checks. So let's try the real test -- how the database engine determines the nullability at run-time:
SELECT * FROM sys.dm_exec_describe_first_result_set(N'SELECT * FROM dbo.Realty', '', NULL);
-- RankingFixed: is_nullable = 0 == :-) WOO HOO!
Best Answer
You could use the
CONCATfunction in SQL Server 2012 or later, which automatically ignoresNULL, and implicitly converts the inputs to string types if necessary.Example:
Output:
... and just in case the example was simplified and a separator is to go between the elements, check out
CONCAT_WS()introduced in SQL Server 2017.