How do I interpret precision and scale of a number in a database?
database, decimal, precision, scale, sql
Solution
Numeric precision refers to the maximum number of digits that are present in the number.
ie 1234567.89 has a precision of 9
Numeric scale refers to the maximum number of decimal places
ie 123456.789 has a scale of 3
Thus the maximum allowed value for decimal(5,2) is 999.99
Problem
I have the following column specified in a database: decimal(5,2) How does one interpret this? According to the properties on the column as viewed in SQL Server Management studio I can see that it means: decimal(Numeric precision, Numeric scale). What do precision and scale mean in real terms? It would be easy to interpret this as a decimal with 5 digits and two decimals places...ie 12345.12 P.S. I've been able to determine the correct answer from a colleague but had great difficulty finding an answer online. As such, I'd like to have the question and answer documented here on stackoverflow for future reference.