I see charindex used quite commonly in string manipulation.  What I rarely see used is the optional third parameter.  Here I will explain how to use it, a situation where it can be useful and something to be careful of.

FROM BOL:
Syntax
CHARINDEX ( expression1 ,expression2 [ , start_location…

Read more

Tally (or numbers) tables are one of my favorite query writing tools.  Such a simple premise that can be applied to a wide variety of problems.   If you don't know what they are, I'd recommend this article.   Here is one problem I've seen a few times now that you… Read more