Building a Real-Time Analytics Pipeline with Azure Stream Analytics and SQL Server
Learn how a real time analytics solution for ETL and reporting can be built with SQL Server, Power BI, and Stream Analytics.
2026-01-26
605 reads
Articles
How to Create a SQL Server Linked Server to Oracle 26ai Free
Easily move data from SQL Server to Oracle 26ai Free with this step-by-step guide.
2026-01-26
T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: Fuzzy String Search II
In the last article, we examined fuzzy string matching in SQL Server 2025 with a few new functions. We know comparing strings has always been hard when we don't have great data quality. If we need exact matches, SQL Server works great. However, we often expect users to enter values without typos and know what […]
2026-01-23
1,382 reads
Sending messages to Slack from SQL Server 2025
In an earlier tip, A history of accessing REST APIs and web pages from SQL Server, I talked about reaching out to external endpoints from SQL Server, including the new sys.sp_invoke_external_rest_endpoint procedure that hit the on-premises editions in SQL Server 2025. This seemed like an ideal use case to enhance our current solution for sending a message to Slack: using xp_cmdshell to call a PowerShell script that calls Invoke-RestMethod. In this tip, I’ll describe how we changed our implementation and why it is a marked improvement for us.
2026-01-23
Python in Action to Auto-Generate an Optimized PostgreSQL Index Strategy
We have a script that can be used to help tune ind...
2026-01-21
915 reads
How to View SQL Server Object Code Easily with sp_showcode
sp_helptext has served SQL Server DBAs for years, but it has its very obvious – and many – limitations: broken lines, missing triggers, no help with encrypted objects, to name just a few. That’s where sp_showcode comes in…
2026-01-21
SQL Server 2025 Standard Developer Edition
Learn about the new Standard Developer Edition of SQL Server 2025.
2026-01-19
2,758 reads
Find Missing SQL Server Data with NOT EXISTS
After years of writing T-SQL a certain way, changing can be tough. When comparing tables for missing rows, developers often use LEFT JOIN.
2026-01-19
T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: Fuzzy String Search I
Comparing strings has always been hard when we don't have great data quality. If we need exact matches, SQL Server works great. However, we often expect users to enter values without typos and know what values they want to find. Or at least know part of the string. However, matching with wildcards or partial strings […]
2026-01-16
2,244 reads
SQL Server Privilege Escalation via Replication Jobs
Learn how attackers can exploit SQL Server replication cleanup jobs to escalate privileges from db_owner to sysadmin
2026-01-16
Blogs
Reality (And Limits) of Instant File Initialization for Transaction Logs in SQL Server 2022
By SQLPals
Reality (And Limits) of Instant File Initialization for Transaction Logs in SQL Server 2022 ...
Looking Back at the Redgate 2026 Company Kickoff
By Steve Jones
Last week I spent a few days in Cambridge, UK for the Redgate Company...
Using AI for Git Hooks
By Steve Jones
Recently I had someone internally ask about whether SQL Source Control supports Git Hooks....
Forums
SQL Agent job running gMSA cannot backup to NAS target
I'm running a group MSA for the database engine and SQL Agent in a...
sys.query_store_query question
All, My query is as follows: SET DATEFORMAT dmy SELECT p.query_id, DATEADD(MICROSECOND,-rs.max_duration,rs.first_execution_time) AS starttime,...
Encoding Strings
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Encoding Strings
Question of the Day
Encoding Strings
I have this code in SQL Server 2025. What is the result?
DECLARE @message VARCHAR(50) = 'Hello SQL Server 2025!'; DECLARE @encoded VARCHAR(MAX); SET @encoded = BASE64_ENCODE(@message); SELECT @encoded AS EncodedResult;See possible answers