"If not exists" fails on SQL CE
- by Mark Evans
Hi
I've got an unexpected problem. I'm making a script to update the schema on a SQL CE database. This won't run:
if not exists
(
Select column_name from information_schema.columns
where column_name = 'TempTestField'
and table_name = 'Inventory_Master_File'
)
Alter table Inventory_Master_File
add TempTestField nvarchar(10) null
I think this is because I'm using stuff that isn't supported in SQL CE. Anyone know how to do this? I've tried rearranging the script and can't get anything to work. I tried "alter table ... where not exists ...".
Note that the "select" part runs fine and also the "alter" part. The problem is "if not exists". I know there are some other postings regarding problems like this using SQL CE but I couldn't find an answer to this particular problem.
Cheers
Mark
UPDATE:
I've spent over an hour looking for a solution. I've found many postings asking for help with similar problems but I've still got no idea how to fix it. I really don't want to do this in C# code. I need to do this in a SQL script. I can't believe something this basic is causing so much difficulty :(
