One of the very common questions posted about T-SQL is how to traverse a hierarchy in a set based manner. New author Craig Hatley brings us his techniques for handling the common scenario of employees and managers.   Read more...

In an interesting exercise in data conversion, Stephen Lasham brings us a nice article on basic manipulations.   Read more...

Part I of this series illustrated how to use simple case functions in queries. This installment discusses how to use case functions in different types of scenarios.  Read more...

Working with NULL functions can be tricky in T-SQL and SQL Server 2000. If you add in aggregates, you need to be sure you understand what the behavior will be or you might report incorrect values to a user. Michael Coles has written a new article that talks about how NULL affects your results.   Read more...

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...

There are many methods to do Running Totals and most are either slow to terribly slow or just unreliable. Here's the right way to do very high speed Running Totals.   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...

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...

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...

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