templates - Why does SQL Server round off results of dividing two integers?

Question

I have a table with a smallint column that contains percentages as whole numbers (i.e., 50, 75, 85, etc.)

When I divide this column by 100, as in

SELECT MY_COLUMN/100 AS PCT_AS_FRACTION
FROM MY_TABLE

the result is rounded to the nearest whole number. For example, for a row that contains the number "50", I get zero as my result.

I can duplicate this with a simple statement:

SELECT 50 / 100 AS TEST_VALUE

Why is that, and how can I get more precision in my result?

Answer 1

When you do integer division (integer divided by integer) you always get an integer answer. 50/100 = .50, which is 0 in integer-speak.

Have you tried dividing MY_COLUMN by 100.0?