Sort Order in SQL Server

Question

Can I change the default sort order in a SQL server database so that nulls and zero length strings are displayed last.

Its SQL Server 2000

I stress, I want to change the default order for all queries, if possible

Answer 1

add a dummy newcolumn = (length(targetcolumn)>0), and sort by this first.

Answer 2

You can do almost any sort using a case in an order by. Here's the null columns first, then the empty strings, and the rest ordered on col1 and col3:

select  *
from    YourTable
order by
        case when col1 is null then 1
             when col1 = '' then 2
             else 3
        end
,       col2
,       col3 desc

Answer 3

No you cannot do that: Without ORDER BY, there is no default sort order. This is a very common question, so I wrote a canned answer: Without ORDER BY, there is no default sort order