February 2, 2017 at 10:46 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Your Favorite Feature that Needs Work
February 2, 2017 at 11:12 pm
I put together this list of features by version based on a youtube video:
https://sqlserver.miraheze.org/wiki/SQL_Server_Features
Please let me know if it needs any updates.
February 2, 2017 at 11:20 pm
One of the oldest and higher voted active connect requests (10 years on 2/18) that I see no glimmer of even being worked on can be found at the following CONNECT link. Of course, I'd like to see it materialize as a very high speed machine language function rather than a built in table.
https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/258733/add-a-built-in-table-of-numbers
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
February 3, 2017 at 12:30 am
A fully integrated, Continuous Integration compatible, unit testing and regression testing framework. There are options out there but nothing that feels as though it will bring automated testing to the masses, like NUnit did for .NET developers say. Of course, there may be something that either I have missed or has turned up since my last look into available tools.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
February 3, 2017 at 12:32 am
Jeff Moden - Thursday, February 2, 2017 11:20 PMOne of the oldest and higher voted active connect requests (10 years on 2/18) that I see no glimmer of even being worked on can be found at the following CONNECT link. Of course, I'd like to see it materialize as a very high speed machine language function rather than a built in table.
https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/258733/add-a-built-in-table-of-numbers
I was going to make some joke about how I guessed that Jeff would post this (true, by the way) but it is something that I totally agree with.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
February 3, 2017 at 1:01 am
That's just the top feature. What I'd really like is (to name a few)...
1. Make the ACE drivers more intelligent and useful.
2. Make FORMAT run at least as fast as Cast/Convert.
3. Make it so the DATE/DAETIME2 datatypes can use direct math like DATETIME can.
4. Make the error outputs to file for BULK INSERT as easy to read as the errors on the screen.
5. Make BULK INSERT a bit more flexible for privs.
6. Make a BULK EXPORT.
7. Make it so that xp_CmdShell logs who's using it for what.
8. Make is so that if you have to stop a proc that uses xp_CmdShell, that it will also kill that instance of Cmd.exe so that you don't have to do it manually through task manager.
9. Make a decent DIR command available for T-SQL along with some file handling.
10. Stop deprecating and discontinuing useful stuff like the old sp_MakeWebTask.
11. Make it so that XML will "self flatten" into a table without having to know any of the column names.
12. Stop deprecating and discontinuing useful stuff like the old {f4} key functionality that was available in 2000 EM..
13. Make PIVOT work at least as well as what it does in ACCESS.
14. Make it so that string truncation warnings tell you the row number and column name where the truncation took place.
15. "Peter Nortonize" index maintenance and database "shrinks".
16. Fix partitioned tables. They're seriously broken in several aspects.
17. Fix partitioned views. They're seriously broken in several aspects.
18. Make the equivalent of sys.SQL_Modules for tables.
19. Add a column to system "what's running" tables to identify which statistics where used to create cached queries.
20. Stop deprecating useful stuff.
21. Fix decimal and floating point math. It's broken. Especially the automatic rounding stuff. Computers have these new fangled things called "math coprocessors", ya know?
22. Stop deprecating useful stuff.
23. Make it so when new features are introduced, they are complete and perform well.
24. Make it so that things like OPENROWSET, OPENQUERY, OPENDATASOURCE, BULK INSERT, database settings (like sizes and growth) scripts and the FROM clause in queries, etc, etc, can take variables instead of have to go through dynamic SQL.
25. Finish writing the bloody new splitter function so that it returns the element positions. (see 23 above).
26. Make it so you can point at a file and it'll make both the target table and the BCP Format file for you.
There's more but I figure that's probably 26 years of work for them. They'll never get to the other stuff I'd like to see because they won't get to most of anything in the list above. 😉
Have I mentioned that I'd like them to stop deprecating and discontinuing useful stuff? 😉
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
February 3, 2017 at 2:40 am
How about fixing the tools broken by introducing SSMS? Remember in Enterprise Manager how easy foreign keys were to setup? For compound keys we need to see these on screen, not buried\hidden by window constraints. If there is a GUI, ensure its fit for purpose. <Rant on>This goes for Windows Vista and up too. Stop hiding powerful functions under inane and useless "modern" interfaces that leave out the useful tools...networking anyone?</Rant off apologies_for_off_topic="on">
Kind Regards
Jamie
February 3, 2017 at 3:17 am
I also use Netezza. There are some areas where it is much more user-friendly, for example:
1. In a query use alias names you just created. Example: Select a*10 as b, sqrt(b) as c from mytable. Brilliant with more complex expressions such as lag and lead
2. Allow Group by 1,2,3 as well as Order by 1,2,3 - it is so much cleaner and is nice and DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself)
3. Allow but ignore spurious 'order by' clauses
4. Allow 'With' clause after an Insert so you can just stick the Insert in front of a functioning Select which has a With
5. Allow casting using ::, '2017-02-03'::date
6. Feature for finding position of nth occurrence of a substring
7. Functions seconds_between, minutes_between ... months_between
8. DateTrunc function, e.g. (in Netezza) select date_trunc('month', current_date) gives the first of the month
9. Syntax 'Drop table xxx if exists'
10. Within stored procedures, instead of cursors, have a data type of record
To open use e.g : FOR myrecord IN SELECT * FROM mytable LOOP
To access a field use e.g. myrecord.myfield
(obviously you should generally avoid cursors, but they are sometimes a fact of life)
11. Within stored procedures, allow the same temp table to be created twice (forgoing validation if necessary)
Some of these may already be in SQL Server 2016 or earlier versions. We can't upgrade beyond 2008 because of all our in-office front-ends are Access Data Projects.
Mike
February 3, 2017 at 3:40 am
Jeff Moden - Friday, February 3, 2017 1:01 AMHave I mentioned that I'd like them to stop deprecating and discontinuing useful stuff? 😉
I don't think you did Jeff, no 🙂
Really like your list though. I don't know if it's because it's at the top because it annoys you that much but I have to agree, USEFUL ACE drivers would be a wonderful thing,
Thom~
Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
Larnu.uk
February 3, 2017 at 3:57 am
Definatly thie one. Trying to find the one item in a csv file that is too large can be a nightmare.
I would also like the ability to define Constants and Enumerated constants, so that user defined stored procedures can work in the same way as built in procedures.
An automatic debug flag, so that procedures can have debug output similar to PowerShell.
I think that that is enough for now.
February 3, 2017 at 4:26 am
After having used SSIS exclusively for over a year I vote for it to be scrapped and re-written.
the interface is inconsistent and buggy.
It crashes randomly
hard to get details of errors
and because it is all in one big XML file code merging and searching is impossible
it really feels like someone had a good idea and then half way through the development they got board and gave up!
ALL lists should be sortable, some screens you can sort by clicking on a column and others you cannot.
Just pooooor..... and very frustrating when you are trying to use it.
February 3, 2017 at 4:46 am
adelio.stevanato 21159 - Friday, February 3, 2017 4:26 AMAfter having used SSIS exclusively for over a year I vote for it to be scrapped and re-written.
the interface is inconsistent and buggy.
It crashes randomly
hard to get details of errors
and because it is all in one big XML file code merging and searching is impossible
it really feels like someone had a good idea and then half way through the development they got board and gave up!
ALL lists should be sortable, some screens you can sort by clicking on a column and others you cannot.
Just pooooor..... and very frustrating when you are trying to use it.
I agree with you, SSIS is something I use because it is mandated not because I want to. I prefer to script everything, T-SQL or another scripting language, than use SSIS.
The niconsistencies need to be addressed, and not by removing features. There also needs to be an easy method to split large jobs into multiple files, as there is a file size limit and validation takes ages on large files.
February 3, 2017 at 6:18 am
Can we fix the known issues with SSMS? It's the only application out of hundreds that still can cause video tear artifacts on my systems.
And can someone kill SSIS in a fire? I'd rather build ETL into an application than deal with it's quirks.
And fix what ever Jeff wants... 😀
February 3, 2017 at 6:25 am
On installs of new SQL Server... in the GUI install screen have it be very easy to slipstream a service pack or CU into the install.
I also agree with a post earlier about Mgt Studio and adding foreign keys... that screen is buried and not very easy to understand. Enterprise Manager was much easier to add Foreign Keys.
Management Studio, in the Activity Monitor be able to select several connections to be able to kill more than one at a time.
Management Studio, Activity Monitor, be able to resize each of the windows so you can 'stretch' the Processes window to see more logins.
February 3, 2017 at 6:26 am
Having had to use oracle for a large number of years we always used "TOAD" instead of the oracle management studio. Far better and more functionality.
The disappointment with the SQL version was that it was too similar to SSMS.
Things like being to add a column to the designer to view and maintain the description field. Far easier that having to do it the normal way.
things like being able to past a snippet of VB Code (with SQL in it) and get it to strip all the VB specific code to leave the SQL code (worked reasonably well) and also the reverse.
Get a bit of SQL and get it to convert into a snipet of VB (or c#) code. MY goodness how much time has that saved me over the years.
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