A series of arguments with developers who insist that fuzzy searches or spell-checking be done within the application rather then a relational database inspired Phil Factor to show how it is done. When the database must find relevant material from search terms entered by users, the database must learn to expect, and deal with, both expected and unexpected.  Read more...

Today Steve Jones notes that the ability to search if invaluable as the amount of information, or even objects, we deal with grows.  Read more...

If you've ever wondered if you can do better than an INDEX SCAN when you do a LIKE "%string%" search, read on...  Read more...

If you've ever wondered if you can do better than an INDEX SCAN when you do a LIKE "%string%" search, read on...  Read more...

Sometimes, you just want to do a search in a SQL Server database as if you were using a search engine like Google. Besides the obvious Full-Text search, Phil Factor describes some of the techniques for finding that pesky data that resists the normal SELECT blandishments.  Read more...

If you've ever wondered if you can do better than an INDEX SCAN when you do a LIKE "%string%" search, read on...  Read more...

An optimized Damerau-Levenshtein Distance (DLD) algorithm for "fuzzy" string matching in Transact-SQL 2000-2008  Read more...

Learn how to search for a value throughout all database tables.  Read more...

An optimized Damerau-Levenshtein Distance (DLD) algorithm for "fuzzy" string matching in Transact-SQL 2000-2008  Read more...

This article describes a utility that allows you to inspect cached plans and extract information that can be useful in improving the performance of your SQL.  Read more...

This article describes a utility that allows you to inspect cached plans and extract information that can be useful in improving the performance of your SQL.  Read more...

Recently Ben Kubicek created a script that would allow him to copy his production db to a test instance and correct the production specific SQL code in stored procedures and views.   Read more...

You can't let a little thing like not knowing a database's structure keep you from your work. Without identifying tables and columns, you can still find specific values and columns.   Read more...

This article describes a utility that allows you to inspect cached plans and extract information that can be useful in improving the performance of your SQL.  Read more...

Techniques for finding values in a denormalized table.  Read more...

ow to write a stored procedure that permits users to select among many search conditions, using both dynamic and static SQL.  Read more...

Discover how to use metadata for pooling information already resident in an application to create a flexible search interface that reduces complexity and increases users' productivity.  Read more...