How to convert empty spaces into null values, using SQL Server?
Solution 1:
I solved a similar problem using NULLIF function:
UPDATE table
SET col1 = NULLIF(col1, '')
From the T-SQL reference:
NULLIF returns the first expression if the two expressions are not equal. If the expressions are equal, NULLIF returns a null value of the type of the first expression.
Solution 2:
Did you try this?
UPDATE table
SET col1 = NULL
WHERE col1 = ''
As the commenters point out, you don't have to do ltrim() or rtrim(), and NULL columns will not match ''.