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Stairway to SQL PowerShell Level 3: Input and Output with PowerShell

Ben Miller from SQLServerCentral.com

This level will cover some of the Input/Output operations you can use with PowerShell.  More »

SQL in the City - San Francisco 2012

Press Release from SQLServerCentral.com

The city by the bay welcomes Steve Jones, Grant Fritchey and more for a day of debate, discussion and learning about SQL Server. It's free. Just register and join us. More »

The Seven Sins against T-SQL Performance

Additional Articles from SimpleTalk

There are seven common antipatterns in T-SQL coding that make code perform badly, and three good habits which will generally ensure that your code runs fast. If you learn nothing else from this list of great advice from Grant, just keep in mind that you should 'write for the optimizer'. More »

From the SQLServerCentral Blogs - PowerShell: Redirecting Console Output and Error Output to a Variable and E-mailing it

nycdotnet from SQLServerCentral.com

I recently had the need to script the execution of a command-line utility and thought it would be a good... More »

I give a talk on branding and resumes that has been well received over the last few years. In it I cover the ways in which you can use networking, blogging, and other ways to improve the chances that employers will want to hire you. There are lots of jobs available, and lots of candidates, but finding a good fit is hard. I would argue that disclosing more about yourself, and your interests, is a good way to help find a good fit with an organization.

One of the cautions I raise in my presentation is that you should be aware of how you present yourself, and the impressions you make. There are no right or wrong ways to do this, but there are ways that reflect differently on you to different people. As such, I do urge you to think about the implications of your actions, your posts, and the way in which you communicate with others. If you are looking for a job, it doesn't make sense to unnecessarily restrict your options because of the things you say or write. 

I ran across this slide show on profanity and cursing at work. I'm not offended by off color language, but some people are, and they often won't let you know that you've created a poor impression. If the data is accurate, the majority of people think regular cursing creates a negative impression. Whether you think it's a lack of control, unprofessional, or anything else, it still is a negative impression. It's also one of the things that caused some HR groups to eliminate candidates.

These days there is competition for jobs, and if you find the job you really like, do you want to diminish your chances because of a few colorful words? You have the freedom in the US to say what you want, and I support that, but you also get the responsibility of handling the consequences. I'd argue a few colorful words aren't worth giving someone a reason to choose another equally qualified candidate over you?

Steve Jones from SQLServerCentral.com

» Join the debate, and respond to today's editorial on the forums

The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

We publish three versions of the podcast each day for you to enjoy.

• Watch the Windows Media Podcast - 21.0MB WMV
• Watch the iPod Video Podcast - 18.9MB MP4
• Listen to the MP3 Audio Podcast - 3.8MB MP3

The podcast feeds are available at sqlservercentral.mevio.com. Comments are definitely appreciated and wanted, and you can get feeds from there. Overall RSS Feed: or now on iTunes!

Today's podcast features music by Everyday Jones. No relation, but I stumbled on to them and really like the music. Support this great duo at www.everydayjones.com.

You can also follow Steve Jones on Twitter:

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Today's Question:

Given the following table definition and statements ((For SQL Server 2008 or later):

CREATE TABLE dbo.Table1 (
    RowID INTEGER IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED,
    DateTimeStamp DATETIME DEFAULT GETDATE(),
    Col1 INTEGER SPARSE,
    Col2 INTEGER SPARSE,
    Col3 INTEGER SPARSE,
    TblColumnSet XML COLUMN_SET FOR ALL_SPARSE_COLUMNS);

INSERT INTO dbo.Table1 (Col1) VALUES (1), (2);
INSERT INTO dbo.Table1 (Col2) VALUES (3), (4);
INSERT INTO dbo.Table1 (Col3) VALUES (5), (6);
INSERT INTO dbo.Table1 (TblColumnSet) VALUES ('<Col1>1</Col1><Col2>2</Col2><Col3>3</Col3>');

SELECT RowID, DateTimeStamp, Col1, Col2, Col3, TblColumnSet
INTO dbo.Table2
FROM dbo.Table1;

Which properties of the sparse columns (from dbo.Table1) will be transferred to dbo.Table2?

By Wayne Sheffield

Think you know the answer? Click here, and find out if you are right.

This question is worth 1 point in this category: Sparse Columns. We keep track of your score to give you bragging rights against your peers.

We'd love to give you credit for your own question and answer. To submit a QOD, simply log in to Contribution Center.

What is the output of the following queries (SQL Server 2008 and above):

--Query#1
SET DATEFORMAT mdy; 

DECLARE @dt1 DATE = '01-15-2012'

SELECT ISDATE(@dt1)

--Query#2
SET DATEFORMAT mdy;

DECLARE @dt2 VARCHAR(10) = '01-15-2012'

SELECT ISDATE(@dt2)

By Lokesh Vij

Answer: Error,1

Explanation: Query#1 will be errored out as the ISDATE does not accept argument of type DATE. Query#2 will return 1 as expression is a valid date

Ref: ISDATE - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187347

» Discuss this question and answer on the forums

How to calculate the check digit for a UCC/EAN code

Sergio Govoni from SQLServerCentral.com

Function that implements the algorithm for calculating the check digit for a UCC/EAN code More »

Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, visit the forums.

SQL Server 2005 : Administering

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SQL Server 2005 : Backups

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SQL Server 2008 : SQL Server 2008 - General

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SQL Server 2008 : SQL Server 2008 Administration

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