SQL SERVER Helpful Functions (UDF) for data conversion, padding, parsing, comparison, formatting, etc.

SQL Server User Defined Functions (UDF) for common data-conversion, parsing, comparing and formatting requirements
Throughout the much more substantial SQL-Server source-code examples that I have provided on this blog, you will see used, at various times, certain User Defined Functions (UDFs) and Stored Procedures (SPs) which make the code simpler than in-lining the same functionality. For