How to fix SQL Error [306] [S0002]: The text, ntext, and image data types cannot be compared or sorted, except when using IS NULL or LIKE operator? - casting

Question

I have problem when using "=" (equal to operator) to compare sql server text data type.
This is my query look like
SELECT * FROM dbeplanningv3.dbo.usulan_dpr
WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR, evaluasi) is null
or
trim(CONVERT(VARCHAR, evaluasi)) = '' ORDER BY [detail] ASC OFFSET 0 ROWS
FETCH NEXT 10 ROWS ONLY
as you see in my script above. I am doing casting data type with this CONVERT(VARCHAR, evaluasi)
but still not work and I get error SQL Error [306] [S0002]: The text, ntext, and image data types cannot be compared or sorted,
this is a part of my table structure
help me please

Answer 1

In your query:
SELECT * FROM dbeplanningv3.dbo.usulan_dpr
WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR, evaluasi) is null
or
trim(CONVERT(VARCHAR, evaluasi)) = '' ORDER BY [detail] ASC OFFSET 0 ROWS
FETCH NEXT 10 ROWS ONLY
only ORDER BY [detail] could cause this error, so I will assume [detail] is of type text (this column isn't visible on your screenshot). To avoid the error, you should convert it to varchar(max):
SELECT * FROM dbeplanningv3.dbo.usulan_dpr
WHERE CONVERT(VARCHAR, evaluasi) is null
or
trim(CONVERT(VARCHAR, evaluasi)) = '' ORDER BY convert(varchar(max), [detail]) ASC OFFSET 0 ROWS
FETCH NEXT 10 ROWS ONLY
But the important question is why on SQL Server 2012 you still use text data type? You should convert these to varchar(max) and avoid casting them all the time.
Also, this cast CONVERT(VARCHAR, evaluasi) is null is pointless. You can check evaluasi is null directly.