I'm sorry to say this guys but this thread is sounding a little elitist.

I can certainly understand the frustration caused by a distinct lack of detail provided (or not) by OPs, however, I also think that there are a genuine number of people out there that have a DBA-type role dumped on top of their usual job. If SQL Server was not your main priority you wouldn't want to be wasting time that could be spent on your main role, whatever that might be, searching around the internet for a SQL solution when a good repository of information lies within communities like this.

Having said that, there is no excuse for OPs not providing the relevant amount of information required to help solve their problem; if there isn't enough info, point them to Jeff's article and leave the thread alone. Likewise, if the answer can be found in BoL, point the OP to BoL. If the community treats these posts consistently and points people to the source of the answer, maybe (and it's just a maybe) the OPs will start to build their knowledge and even learn some researching skills. :w00t:

Lastly, there's the obvious bad designs (a la Jeff's example). I know when I've pointed out a problem in the design of a system in a post the general replies have been "hey, I didn't build it" and "I can't do anything about that"; which are rather sorry statements. I do try to point out how a to better design the system and save people a lot of time but most of the OPs think they have too much red tape to cut through to the get the changes made or that they are not in a position within the company to drive, or even recommend, system changes. Hopefully, OPs can start using their new research skills - forced upon them by the community not doing the easy work for them - to find out just how important a DBA is. 😀

Personally, my cage gets rattled when the question posed is blatantly homework. :crazy: