SQL Server can support many different languages through Unicode. Author Dinesh Asanka brings us a basic article on how the server supports different languages.   Read more...

If you are a developer creating Web services, a webmaster creating database-enabled pages or a database administrator (DBA) tuning SQL queries for a 24x7 web site, you've probably experienced the phenomenon known as "web time." The computer industry has never been quiet, but recent years have been particularly frenetic. The popularity of the web produced a flurry of software-development activity. New versions, new technologies, and new products appeared seemingly overnight. Web time became a useful phrase for describing compressed development cycles between new product releases and documentation that is obsolete before it arrives from the printer.   Read more...

A Chief Financial Officer (CFO) was approached by the CEO and asked for an accounting of the company’s financial assets. The CFO gave a vague response indicating a lack of knowledge of the corporate bank accounts, had little idea what was in each account, and had no idea about the status of accounts receivable. The Board of Directors asked the CEO about the intended use of the corporate assets and were told “there is no plan for their use.” The CFO and the CEO were soon pursuing new personal interests.   Read more...

New Author! Don Peterson writes his first article for us and explores why he considers XML to be...bad! There are some interesting points made here and if you've haven't thought about what XML means to you as a DBA, it's a subject worth spending some time on.   Read more...

Most SQL Server developers and DBAs are familiar with the concept of using a database as a back end to a web site or other application. However the database can be used to store more than just the data that users will edit. An interesting approach to application design begins with some knowledge of the metadata about the underlying data structures and using this to drive the application's behavior. New author Jim Craddock has utilized just such a concept in one if his applications and he brings us a look at how this works.   Read more...

Mindy explores the metadata stored in SQL 2000 to show you how to produce a simple and useful data dictionary!   Read more...

Over the last few years, corporations have invested billions of dollars to integrate the automations of core business systems in large ERP applications. This paper looks at the risk of downtime and solutions for building an around-the-clock database.   Read more...

Ralph Kimball, founder of The Kimbaal Group, shares some thoughts on data with PASS.   Read more...

Frank returns this week with a good non academic overview of the different types of database models and some of the features/problems that are native to each.   Read more...

David recently worked on a project where it turned out storing the answers to a survey using bitmapping was a good approach. He was good enough to write some of it down and share. As he notes bitmapping isn't used as often as it used to be, but it can still be a useful technique to have around.   Read more...

This short article looks at some mistakes developers should avoid when they also have the task of designing the database, database objects, or TSQL used to access it.   Read more...

Andy started writing about worst practices a long time ago and returns this week with one that is short and sweet - why defining rows that exceed 8060 characters is a very bad idea and how you can avoid it.   Read more...

This article proposes a system where extra data is stored in a simple row based table and retrieved using the 'store key'. It's not a new concept of course, but the author explains how and why he chose to implement. Feedback should be interesting!   Read more...

New product designed to help you move from one database platform to another. (Not Reviewed)  Read more...

Two weeks ago Andy started his wildly successful series on Worst Practices. This week he continues that series discussing why failing to use primary keys and clustered indexes are worst practices. Agree or disagree, read the article and join the discussion. One thing you'll have to admit, reading an article by Andy is a lot more interesting than reading Books Online!   Read more...

New Author! Ramesh talks a little about database theory, using the ERD, and how you can put it to work.   Read more...

New Author! Don Peterson writes his first article for us and explores why he considers XML to be...bad! There are some interesting points made here and if you've haven't thought about what XML means to you as a DBA, it's a subject worth spending some time on.   Read more...

Directly accessing system tables is discouraged - so what's the alternative? Using the Information Schema should allow you to create code that survives upgrades. Beyond that, what can you do with it? Joe has four great examples to get you started.   Read more...

Chris discusses some issues he had trying to use SQL dates from within Java. Interesting stuff and brings up the point that if you have dates stored in local time, having users in multiple time zones can be a large headache.   Read more...

Jon has been off in the land of C# and web apps for a while, but a recent project has him investigating OLAP and then coming up with a custom solution that met his needs. Jon helped us get this site off the ground, good to have him back for a guest appearance!   Read more...