Every SQL Server Database programmer needs to be familiar with the System Functions. These range from the sublime (such as @@rowcount or @@identity) to the ridiculous (IsNumeric()) Robert Sheldon provides an overview of the most commonly used of them.
2016-04-18
6,053 reads
Have you ever wanted to run a query across every database on a server with the convenience of a stored procedure? If so, Microsoft provided a stored procedure to do so. It’s unreliable, outdated, and somewhat obfuscated, though. Let’s improve on it!
2016-04-15 (first published: 2014-12-01)
16,963 reads
Sometimes, in the quest for raw SQL performance, you are forced to sacrifice legibility and maintainability of your code, unless you then document your code lavishly. Phil Factor's SQL Speed Phreak challenge produced some memorable code, but can SQL features introduced since then help to produce code that performs as well and is also easy to understand? Kathi Kellenberger investigates.
2016-04-15
5,825 reads
This new chapter will show you how to work with the SSIS Data Mining Query Transformation Task
2016-04-14
2,543 reads
Code coverage is a practice that goes hand in hand with automated testing, reporting the percentage of your code that has been exercised during a test run. Ed Elliott and Redgate have partnered to make a code coverage tool available for SQL Server, both free and open source. SQL Cover measures the coverage of your SQL Server stored procedures and functions. It has built-in support for the popular tSQLt unit testing framework, but can also be used alongside any automated testing framework of your choosing. Find out more in this blog post.
2016-04-14
4,457 reads
Paul White shows how an update may fail when a partition has some data on a read-only filegroup, and explains several workarounds.
2016-04-13
2,455 reads
Learn about deadlocks and how you might better troubleshoot the issues involved.
2016-04-12
5,177 reads
The 2015/16 Simple-Talk Awards have concluded, the votes have been counted and recounted, and the winners have now been announced.
2016-04-12
2,372 reads
With the new temporal table feature, SQL Server 2016 internally manages two tables: a base table, which contains the latest data all the time, and a history table, which contains a history of all of the changes. Arshad Ali looks at the new feature, how it works, and how to either create a new table with this feature or enable it for an existing table.
2016-04-11
4,139 reads
Special Characters can lead to many problems. Identifying and reporting on them can save a lot of headache down the road.
2016-04-08 (first published: 2014-08-19)
147,298 reads
Next Monday, March 9, 2026, my one-day live online training SQL Server 2025 Unleashed:...
By HeyMo0sh
As someone who’s worked with data for over 20 years and with many cloud...
By HeyMo0sh
2025 belongs to the AI startups. If you peek into the tech headlines, you’ll...
Comments posted to this topic are about the item A Quick Restore
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Guarding Against SQL Injection at...
I have a quick question on Ola Hallengren Index Optimize Maintenance . Do we...
While doing some testing of an application, I wanted to reset my environment after doing some testing with this code:
USE DNRTest BACKUP DATABASE DNRTest TO DISK = 'dnrtest.bak' GO /* Bunch of stuff tested here */RESTORE DATABASE DNRTest FROM DISK = 'dnrtest.bak' WITH REPLACEWhat happens if this runs, assuming the "bunch of stuff" isn't anything affecting the instance. See possible answers