Generating A Password in SQL Server with T-SQL from Random Characters
Dallas Snider explains how to use T-SQL to generate a random password that meets an organization's password requirements.
2015-05-06
8,369 reads
Additional Articles
Time Slots - An Essential Extension to Calendar Tables
After answering many forum entries from developers asking for help with dealing with SQL that involved time intervals and ranges, Dwain dreamed of a generalized tool that sets up time slots of various sorts without the need to experiment; that could do the heavy lifting, so that developers could do aggregations and reports based on time intervals without the hard graft. Here is Dwain's dream made reality.
2015-05-05
7,291 reads
MongoDB vs. Azure DocumentDB
There’s a new kid on the block in the NoSQL world – Azure DocumentDB. Released in preview back in August 2014 and going Generally Available this month, Azure DocumentDB is Microsoft’s initial foray into the increasingly competitive space of non-relational database management systems. Of course there is no better competitor in this space to measure up against than MongoDB. How close does DocumentDB stack up to MongoDB? Are they even close?
2015-05-04
9,575 reads
CONCAT and STUFF Functions in SQL Server 2012
The difference between the CONCAT function and the STUFF function lies in the fact that CONCAT allows you to append a string value at the end of another string value whereas STUFF allows you insert or replace a string value into or in between another string value. Read on to learn more about these functions and their real life usage.
2015-05-01
9,908 reads
Microservices in Promise and Practice
Are microservices the cure for the ague of monolithic applications, or do they bring their own problems with them that monolithic architectures have circumvented? Are they capable of delivering applications that are easier to maintain and develop? How can they avoid the failings of service-oriented architectures? Once more, Robert Sheldon gets to the heart of the technical issues.
2015-04-30
7,853 reads
Disaster Recovery and Big Data
Big data applications are not usually considered mission-critical: while they support sales and marketing decisions, they do not significantly affect core operations such as customer accounts, orders, inventory, and shipping. Why, then, are major IT organizations moving quickly to incorporating big data in their disaster recovery plans?
2015-04-29
9,397 reads
Mobile BI with SQL Server Reporting Services
For users to get the information they need from mobile reports, we frequently have to tailor the way we design those reports to the characteristics of the target device. Adam Aspin demonstrates some of the ways that we can deliver easy-to-use Business Intelligence to tablets and smartphones using Reporting Services.
2015-04-28
7,735 reads
Time Testing SQL Azure Point In Time Database Restores
If you need to do a time test for restoring an Azure SQL database from a point in time, and wonder about automating this through PowerShell, here are the guidelines that Tim Smith would you recommend?
2015-04-27
4,842 reads
Understanding Cross-Database Transactions in SQL Server
Microsoft 'Always On' technology does not support distributed or cross-database transactions. Why not? Grahaeme Ross shows how to investigate cross-database transactions to understand the problem in more detail, and concludes that a Cross-Database transaction can cause loss of data integrity in the commit phase of the two-phase commit.
2015-04-24
7,846 reads
Continue a Foreach loop after an error in a SQL Server Integration Services package
Say you have a SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) package with a Foreach Loop container. Inside that container you have a task that sometimes can fail. Koen Verbeeck provides a tip on how to implement SSIS so that, if it fails, the loop will just continue, skip the current step and go to the next iteration.
2015-04-23
7,361 reads
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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