Implementing a custom sort
Rob Farley discusses some solutions and gotchas for implementing a custom sort using ORDER BY in T-SQL queries.
2016-11-21
3,624 reads
Additional Articles
How to Start Big Data with Apache Spark
It is worth getting familiar with Apache Spark because it a fast and general engine for large-scale data processing and you can use you existing SQL skills to get going with analysis of the type and volume of semi-structured data that would be awkward for a relational database. With an IDE such as Databricks you can very quickly get hands-on experience with an interesting technology.
2016-11-18
3,131 reads
How to resolve SSIS access denied error in SQL Server Management Studio
Receiving an access denied error message when trying to connect to a remote instance of SSIS from SSMS? Sadequl Hussain provides the solution.
2016-11-17
4,199 reads
More Power BI to your Elbow
Power BI Desktop continues to evolve. There have been many improvements to the reporting side that together make it easier to get from the data to the visualisation as quickly as possible. You can now create line charts that let users drill down into hierarchical data. There are now ways of adding dynamic reference lines to a visualization that provide users with relevant reference points. Robert Sheldon demonstrates how to combine these features to great effect.
2016-11-16
3,166 reads
Can I Use Statistics to Design Indexes?
"I’ve noticed that many indexes in my data warehouse aren’t used frequently. Is there a way to use the automatically generated statistics to make useful indexes?"
Kendra Little answers the question in episode 18 of Dear SQL DBA.
2016-11-15
4,733 reads
Top 6 MySQL DBA Mistakes
To err is human, or so the saying goes. Unfortunately, in the world of IT, innocuous mistakes made early on can lead to really daunting problems down the road. In this article, Rob Gravelle goes over a few of the most common DBA mistakes to avoid. Some of these relate specifically to MySQL, while others may be applicable to any RDBMS.
2016-11-14
4,315 reads
Multi-Step Input Forms in ASP.NET MVC
It is a common problem with a web page that a form is too complex to fit easily on the page. You can, of course, rely on the scrollbar, but it soon becomes a daunting and erratic process for the poor user. Wizards, that allow you to guide the user through a process, are great but take time to set up. Is there a simple solution for those occasions where there is too much data-entry for a form but a full wizard seems like overkill?
2016-11-11
3,292 reads
Azure SQL Database - Implementing Azure AD Authentication
Marcin Policht focuses on the specifics of using Azure Active Directory to authenticate to Azure SQL Database.
2016-11-10
5,620 reads
Find and Remove Duplicate Rows from a SQL Server Table
Though duplicate rows are bad practice, sometimes they're necessary for a short time. But how do you clean your tables when they're no longer needed? Sergey Gigoyan provides a few different solutions.
2016-11-09
3,155 reads
SQL Server Timeouts During Backups and CHECKDB
So you’re hosting your SQL Server in the cloud, and you’ve noticed that when you’re running a backup or a DBCC CHECKDB, you suffer from extreme performance problems - what's going on? Brent Ozar explains.
2016-11-08
3,699 reads
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Happy Holidays, Let's Do Nerdy Stuff
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UNISTR Escape
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Question of the Day
UNISTR Escape
In SQL Server 2025, I run this command:
SELECT UNISTR('*3041*308A*304C\3068 and good night', '*') as "A Classic";
What is returned? (assume the database has an appropriate collation)
A: 
B: 
C: 
See possible answers