Question : simple replace question easy points

update table
      set functiondesc = replace(functiondesc,'firma gloma','firma global')
      where int_FunctionID = 2 and int_LanguageID = 10
it gives me this error
Argument data type ntext is invalid for argument 1 of replace function.

if i cast it in this manner(look at update query below) it will crop the text if its ntext? is that right? how can i avoid that and keep it as ntext and replace the values
update table
      set functiondesc = replace(cast(functiondesc as varchar),'firma gloma','firma global')
      where int_FunctionID = 2 and int_LanguageID = 10
it gives me this error

Answer : simple replace question easy points

Can you confirm that the column functiondesc has in fact more than 8000 characters or if you are really using a double-byte language 4000 characters?  If it is less than there may be a simple solution, other wise this is not trivial.  If this is a one time operation than your best bet is to write an app to retrieve the data using VB or .NET, make the change and then update the row.