> -----Original Message-----
> From: Helen Borrie [mailto:helebor@...]
> >I get this error
> >
> >Arithmetic overflow or division by zero has occurred.
> >arithmetic exception, numeric overflow, or string truncation.

> Yes. The domain change would have been allowed if the old
> varchar column was defined to be of sufficient length to
> accommodate a DATE type, i.e. 11 or more characters.
> However, changing the domain definition does not convert the
> data. That is something you will have to do yourself, before
> attempting to make a backup that you can restore.

> It could have been one or more possible anomalies in date
> string formats - needle-in-the-haystack stuff, since it gets
> back to the need to fix up data always when you change its

Thanks a lot for a verry thorough answer! (I have definitley learned not to mess with the domains without proper precautions (would emptying the table first be enough?) and a safe backup).

I just spent this morning looking for the lost needle.

Just in case someone else run into the same problem and Gooogle for a solution, here is what I did:
First I droped the data from all tables with a script consisting of lots of

delete from t_table_one;
delete from t_table_two;

Then I took one table at the time and looked at the dependencies of potentially ofending Fields. From the dependant SPs and triggers I comented out all references to the given field.
Then I droped the field and created a new one (with the same domain).

This was not fun and I am not sure if it was the best way but it did atlest work.

Thanks again Helen for a good explanation of what happened.

Tim