Force default value when adding column to table - SQL Server

Question

In SQL Server 2000/2005, Is it possible to force the default value to be written to already existing rows when adding a new column to a table without using NOT NULL on the new column?

Accepted Answer

You need two statements. First create the column with not null. Then change the not null constraint to nullable

```
alter table mytable add mycolumn varchar(10) not null default ('a value')
alter table mytable alter column mycolumn varchar(10) null
```

Force default value when adding column to table - SQL Server

Solution

Problem