I have the following situation. I use a SQL Server database where one of the major key fields is defined as text field (string). This field contains nothing but a five-digit number. I am told by the people who installed the database that changing the data type of this field is a bad idea since it had been hard coded in the administrative module of the database (the database is iMIS, a commercial product).
I have acquired a new database which has a numeric key field (long integer), a five digit number, matching perfectly the key field of the other databse. I would like to relate tables of the two databases by this field, however I don’t want to change the data type (long integer) of the second DB’s key field.
Is there a way to link these databases without changing the key fields’ datatype?