This article describes and demonstrates the problem of using asterisk to select all fields from a table within a table function. (from Apr 2008)   Read more...

In a recent tip I outlined a process for converting a date, stored as an integer into a datetime data type. Date and time information for run history of SQL Server Agent jobs is stored within the msdb..sysjobshistory table as an integer data type, not as a datetime as one would expect. As promised, this tip picks up where we left off. On converting the integer-typed run_time into a format that is more user friendly for presentation purposes.  Read more...

Unlike other relational database management systems that shall remain nameless, SQL Server's underlying coding language, T/SQL, does not have a built-in function for padding string values. I recently took it upon myself to create my own and as you'll see I got a little carried away  Read more...

While perusing some of the threads on SQLServerCentral.com one of the questions that hit me was regarding the use of scalar functions in queries. In this particular case, in the column list of a SELECT statement. Did it make sense to encapsulate a routine...  Read more...

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This short tip shows how you can convert an integer date, such as those stored in msdb to a real datetime value.  Read more...

SCHEMA BINDING is commonly used with SQL Server objects like views and User Defined Functions (UDF). The main benefit of SCHEMA BINDING is to avoid any accidental drop or change of an object that is referenced by other objects. A User Defined Function (UDF) may or may not access any underlying database objects, but in this tip we show how using SCHEMA BINDING with a UDF can improve performance even if there are no underlying objects.  Read more...

This UDF returns a multi column table of values from an input string of comma separated values  Read more...

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This article describes and demonstrates the problem of using asterisk to select all fields from a table within a table function. (from Apr 2008)   Read more...

Get given character's position from a string  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...

Like my tdard split but this will take a string and split it by 2 delimiters  Read more...

In the simplest terms, a user-defined function (UDF) in SQL Server is a programming construct that accepts parameters, does work that typically makes use of the accepted parameters, and returns a type of result. This article will cover two types of UDFs: table-valued and scalar-valued.  Read more...

Calculates the nth due date for any given date, while accounting for weekends.  Read more...

Computed columns in SQL Server 2000 allow you to have a calculated value available easily in a query. However by using a function instead of a simple formula you can build some very interesting solutions. New author Tim Chapman brings us a look at this technique.   Read more...

SQL Server string manipulation using T-SQL leaves lots to be desired. Many postings and complaints about T-SQL deal with strings, but there are ways to work with it. Author Eli Leiba brings us a way to split out portions of a string that contains tokens with a user defined function. Read on to see how this is accomplished and the code used to perform the splitting.   Read more...

Many programming languages have supported User Defined Functions for years, but they are new to SQL Server 2000. In this article we will look at some of the ways functions can be used within SQL Server 2000.   Read more...

User defined functions were added in SQL Server 7 and enhanced in SQL Server 2000, but they are still a relatively little used feature. Here's a look at a unique way that Leo Peysakhovich solved a problem using a UDF.   Read more...

Dinesh looks at the date functions, how to work with time zones (or not), and does a brief comparison to see how you do similar tasks in Oracle.   Read more...

This article describes and demonstrates the problem of using asterisk to select all fields from a table within a table function. (from Apr 2008)   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...

SCHEMA BINDING is commonly used with SQL Server objects like views and User Defined Functions (UDF). The main benefit of SCHEMA BINDING is to avoid any accidental drop or change of an object that is referenced by other objects. A User Defined Function (UDF) may or may not access any underlying database objects, but in this tip we show how using SCHEMA BINDING with a UDF can improve performance even if there are no underlying objects.  Read more...