In this article I discuss a new feature in SQL 2008, table-valued parameters and particularly the restriction that they have to be read-only. I argue that this makes this feature considerably less useful that it could be, and that in order to build scalable applications be able to pass read-write table parameters between stored procedures is essential.  Read more...

In SQL Server 2000 or any relational database, the concept of NULL can be both confusing and hazardess to your employment. Not understanding how to work with NULLs can lead to incorrect responses to queries and poor business decisions being made. New author Michael Coles brings us four rules that can help you work with NULL values in your tables.   Read more...

Truth tables are an important part of working with logical values in SQL Server. Yousef Ekhtiari brings us some T-SQL that can help you construct those many variable truth tables and ensure you are getting the results you expect.   Read more...

Have you ever wanted to ensure that keywords in your data are easily searchable? Have you struggled with full-text search? New author Michael Ahmadi brings us an interesting idea for a keyword tracking and searching subsystem based on T-SQL and triggers.   Read more...

An IP address is something we all recognize and is a piece of data that is quite prevalent in many systems. However it is a piece of data tha presents some challenges in its storage and retrieval. SQL Server guru David Poole presents us with a look at how you can work with this strange formatting.   Read more...

SQL Server 2000 and Transact-SQL have many features, but one of the most often asked for features has been the implementation of some sort of array data type. This basic programming concept is notably absent from the development platform and results in many headaches and frustrations for DBAs. New author Alex Grinberg brings us his techniques for simulating arrays in SQL Server 2000.   Read more...

Finding missing data in a sequence of numbers or dates is a common request of DBAs. Regular author Jacob Sebastian brings us a new article that shows just how you can do this.  Read more...

Expanding on his series of string manipulation in T-SQL, Steve Jones takes a look at how you go about removing those unseen characters from your strings.   Read more...

Learn how to solve a couple of common T-SQL issues with MVP Jeff Moden.  Read more...

Dealing with NULL data is something that often confuses new SQL Server developers, but even experienced DBAs might not understand all the intricacies of NULL operations. In a follow up to his highly acclaimed Four Rules of Null article, Michael Coles brings us a few new tricks with NULLs.   Read more...

Most SQL Server DBAs have been taught that cursors are bad and should not be used. However there are some cases and places where they might be useful. SQL Server guru Andy Warren brings us an example of where they may be handy.   Read more...

Rumor has it that Concatenation functions have gotten the nasty reputation of being "performance hogs". Here's why that's not true.  Read more...

Gregory Larsen discusses how to use the TOP clause to help solve requests where you want to restrict the number of records returned based on a record count.  Read more...

Just because it looks set based, doesn't mean it is. T-SQL Crackerjack Jeff Moden takes a look at a mistake that many query writers make.  Read more...

How often do you need to keep a total of all previous rows values when you run a query? This article shows you how you can achieve this.  Read more...

Dealing with NULL data is something that often confuses new SQL Server developers, but even experienced DBAs might not understand all the intricacies of NULL operations. In a follow up to his highly acclaimed Four Rules of Null article, Michael Coles brings us a few new tricks with NULLs.   Read more...

When reading rating information, how do you you knew how many points each separate voter gave if you only know the average rating and the number of votes? Well, you might be surprised to learn that you can figure it out using SQL  Read more...

T-SQL is a powerful language, enabling you to handle many different types of set based operations. But having flexible WHERE clauses isn't something that many DBAs deal with on a daily basis. New Author Sotiris Filippidis brings us an article on how you can structure a WHERE clause to handle all types of strange business logic without using dynamic SQL. Read on to learn more about his technique.   Read more...

When a function is wrapped around an indexed column in the WHERE clause it will usually prevent the proper usage of that index. This article gives an example and discusses what other options are available.  Read more...

Datetime data in SQL Server can be a little confusing to work with, especially as many front end languages do not combine the date and time into a single datatype. As a result, T-SQL is sometimes used to manipulate and convert datetime data into more useable formats. Author Leo Peysakhovich has written about some tricks that he uses to reformat and work with datetime data.   Read more...