Automated Trace File Collection
This article shows how to create a trace and capture it into a table using a combination of SQL and VBScript. Direct and to the point, you can read this and try it easily.
2003-07-29
9,118 reads
Articles
Where Do I Want To Go Today? - Upsert
Where should SQL Server go in the future? What enhancements are needed? Steve Jones starts to explore his wish list for future versions of SQL Server.
2003-07-28
7,995 reads
Finding and Deleting Duplicate Data
Bad data is almost a given, but true duplicate data can really cause you some headaches. How do you remove all the duplicates and still leave a 'keeper' record? If you think procedural code it's not too hard, but can you do a set based solution? Chris shows you show!
2003-07-25
19,998 reads
Database Server Clash Revisited (Eweek)
This is a follow up article on the database comparison they did about 18 months ago.
2003-07-24
604 reads
Creating a Chart From a Table
New author! This article has a stored procedure that will generate an HTML document - as long as the table has the proper schema. If you try it, be sure to download the associated zip which has some images and the script for the stored procedure.
2003-07-23
7,779 reads
The SQL Delete Statement
New Author! Narayana has some ideas on the delete statement and how you can have a fall back plan if something goes wrong.
2003-07-22
19,615 reads
Replacing BCP with SQLBulkLoad
New Author! Stephan writes about why he thinks the bulk load capabilities added in the SQLXML3 addition are a great way to handle imports - maybe so good that you'll stop using BCP.
2003-07-21
12,766 reads
Review: EditPlus
Everyone uses a text editor. Whether for programming, editing configuration files, or reviewing logs. Here's a look at an inexpensive replacement for notepad that performs a number of functions that DBAs might be interested in having.
2003-07-18
8,333 reads
Freeware : DDL Source Safe Archive Utility
If your shop is even close to the typical Microsoft SQL Server environment there are several people that can make changes to the production environment and what's in SourceSafe does not match what's on the SQL Server. This freeware by Bill Wunder will make archiving DDL and DTS packages a piece of cake and simplify deployment of SQL Server code. Available exclusivily for SQLServerCentral.com members.
2003-07-17
844 reads
MSMQ Extended Stored Procedures For SQL Server
As you might guess from the title, this is an extended stored procedure that you can use to interact with MSMQ. It's supposed to be extremely fast, able to handle 4-5k messages per second and have a very small memory footprint. (Press Release)
2003-07-17
1,310 reads
Blogs
Narrow Task Decomposition in AI Pipeline Agents
A nightly load into sales_fact fails. Ask an orchestrating agent to break down the...
Car Update: August 2026
By Steve Jones
It’s been some time since I provided a car update, so I decided to...
Microsoft Fabric OneLake Shortcuts: When to Use Them and When Not To
By James Serra
An architecture scenario Imagine separate Sales, Finance, Shared Data, and Executive Analytics workspaces. Sales...
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Managing Incidents and Fighting Fires
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Backing Up a DMK
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The Quiet Part
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Question of the Day
Backing Up a DMK
In SQL Server 2025, I have a database with a Database Masker Key (DMK). I want to back up this key and keep a copy offline. When do I have to open this key before running the backup?
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