Cannot resolve the collation conflict between “SQL

Question

I have the following code

SELECT tA.FieldName As [Field Name],
       COALESCE(tO_A.[desc], tO_B.[desc], tO_C.Name, tA.OldVAlue) AS [Old Value],
       COALESCE(tN_A.[desc], tN_B.[desc], tN_C.Name, tA.NewValue) AS [New Value],
       U.UserName AS [User Name],
       CONVERT(varchar, tA.ChangeDate) AS [Change Date] 
  FROM D tA
       JOIN 
       [DRTS].[dbo].[User] U 
         ON tA.UserID = U.UserID
       LEFT JOIN 
       A tO_A 
         on tA.FieldName = 'AID' 
        AND tA.oldValue = CONVERT(VARCHAR, tO_A.ID)
       LEFT JOIN 
       A tN_A 
         on tA.FieldName = 'AID' 
        AND tA.newValue = CONVERT(VARCHAR, tN_A.ID)
       LEFT JOIN 
       B tO_B 
         on tA.FieldName = 'BID' 
        AND tA.oldValue = CONVERT(VARCHAR, tO_B.ID)
       LEFT JOIN 
       B tN_B 
         on tA.FieldName = 'BID' 
        AND tA.newValue = CONVERT(VARCHAR, tN_B.ID)
       LEFT JOIN 
       C tO_C 
         on tA.FieldName = 'CID' 
        AND tA.oldValue = tO_C.Name
       LEFT JOIN 
       C tN_C 
         on tA.FieldName = 'CID' 
        AND tA.newValue = tN_C.Name
 WHERE U.Fullname = @SearchTerm
ORDER BY tA.ChangeDate

When running the code I am getting the error pasted in the title after adding the two joins for table C. I think this may have something to do with the fact I'm using SQL Server 2008 and have restored a copy of this db on to my machine which is 2005.

Answer 1

Check the level of collation that is mismatched (server, database,table,column,character).

If it is the server, these steps helped me once:

1. Stop the server
2. Find your sqlservr.exe tool

3. Run this command:

   sqlservr -m -T4022 -T3659 -s"name_of_insance" -q "name_of_collation"

4. Start your sql server:

   net start name_of_instance

5. Check the collation of your server again.

Here is more info:

https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/3519/changing-sql-server-collation-after-installation/

Answer 2

You have a mismatch of two different collations in your table. You can check what collations each column in your table(s) has by using this query:

SELECT
    col.name, col.collation_name
FROM 
    sys.columns col
WHERE
    object_id = OBJECT_ID('YourTableName')

Collations are needed and used when ordering and comparing strings. It's generally a good idea to have a single, unique collation used throughout your database - don't use different collations within a single table or database - you're only asking for trouble....

Once you've settled for one single collation, you can change those tables / columns that don't match yet using this command:

ALTER TABLE YourTableName
  ALTER COLUMN OffendingColumn
    VARCHAR(100) COLLATE Latin1_General_CI_AS NOT NULL

Marc

UPDATE: to find the fulltext indices in your database, use this query here:

SELECT
    fti.object_Id,
    OBJECT_NAME(fti.object_id) 'Fulltext index',
    fti.is_enabled,
    i.name 'Index name',
    OBJECT_NAME(i.object_id) 'Table name'
FROM 
    sys.fulltext_indexes fti
INNER JOIN 
    sys.indexes i ON fti.unique_index_id = i.index_id

You can then drop the fulltext index using:

DROP FULLTEXT INDEX ON (tablename)

Answer 3

This can easily happen when you have 2 different databases and specially 2 different databases from 2 different servers. Best option is to change it to a common collection and do the join or comparison.

select 
   *
from sd
inner join pd on sd.SCaseflowID collate  Latin1_General_CS_AS = pd.PDebt_code collate  Latin1_General_CS_AS

Answer 4

The root cause is that the sql server database you took the schema from has a collation that differs from your local installation. If you don't want to worry about collation re install SQL Server locally using the same collation as the SQL Server 2008 database.

Answer 5

For those who have a CREATE DATABASE script (as was my case) for the database that is causing this issue you can use the following CREATE script to match the collation:

-- Create Case Sensitive Database
CREATE DATABASE CaseSensitiveDatabase
COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CS_AS -- or any collation you require
GO
USE CaseSensitiveDatabase
GO
SELECT *
FROM sys.types
GO
--rest of your script here

or

-- Create Case In-Sensitive Database
CREATE DATABASE CaseInSensitiveDatabase
COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS -- or any collation you require
GO
USE CaseInSensitiveDatabase
GO
SELECT *
FROM sys.types
GO
--rest of your script here

This applies the desired collation to all the tables, which was just what I needed. It is ideal to try and keep the collation the same for all databases on a server. Hope this helps.

More info on the following link: SQL SERVER – Creating Database with Different Collation on Server

Answer 6

If this occurs across the whole of your DB then it's better to change your DB collation like so:

USE master;  
GO  
ALTER DATABASE MyOptionsTest  
COLLATE << INSERT COLATION REQUIRED >> ;  
GO  

--Verify the collation setting.  
SELECT name, collation_name  
FROM sys.databases  
WHERE name = N'<< INSERT DATABASE NAME >>';  
GO 

Reference here