Jeff,

Thank you very much for your suggestions. You make a very good point about the iTVF, it is definitely more useful than the proc. In my defense about the tally, I can say that my decision about a good-enough-for-qotd-scope tally script is based on the following assumption:

Someone playing with the script either:

"Got a job" 🙂 and thus has the development copy of the prod database with the sufficient number of records in sys.objects

"Don't got a job" :w00t: and thus has AdventureWorks database with the sufficient number of records in sys.objects (about 1800 records, 3.24 mln if cross joined).

iTVF works very well with cross apply, with which I cannot play at work as we are still at compat 80 2005, so I have to constantly restate my cross apply statements as joins (when I can) when moving the test scripts between the databases at work and AdventureWorks at home.

Oleg