R Glen Cooper

Glen Cooper (r.glen.cooper@gmail.com) is a SQL Server programmer. His current interest involves graph-theoretical solutions to optimization problems. Glen holds a PhD in Mathematics specializing in model theory and symbolic logic.
  • Interests: SQL Server, .NET, Mathematics

SQLServerCentral Article

Dijkstra's Algorithm

Introduction This article celebrates a classic algorithm [1] of Dijkstra (1930 – 2002) which finds a path of minimal cost between any pair of nodes in an undirected graph. His procedure is widely recognized as a fundamental tool for examining communication and transportation networks (eg. Google Maps) and is surprisingly simple. By his own admission, […]

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2024-01-05

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SQLServerCentral Article

Horizontal Trees

Introduction The sp_HorizontalTree procedure introduced here may be used to audit tables with dependent columns. A column is dependent on another if the meaning of the first column depends on the meaning of the second. For example, in a table containing accounting information, the meaning of a Fiscal Quarter column depends on the Fiscal Year to […]

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2023-06-16

2,390 reads

SQLServerCentral Article

How To Avoid MERGE in SQL Server

Introduction This article shows how to script a basic merge between two tables, without using MERGE. This can be handy when you're merging a pair of tables with hundreds of columns, since the script doesn't know anything about them. This technique introduces and populates some auditing columns (IS_DELETED, IS_INSERTED, IS_UPDATED, TRANSACTION_DATE) for each record, and runs fast. […]

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2023-02-20 (first published: )

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SQLServerCentral Article

Navigating Trees With CTE

Introduction This article shows how common table expressions (CTE) in SQL Server are naturally suited for navigating trees, such as finding its longest path, or diameter. Recall that a tree is an undirected graph where unique paths exist between any two nodes (i.e. vertices). Any node may be selected as its top node, with its […]

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2021-04-19

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Question of the Day

How Many Can Be the Greatest

I am trying to analyze a number of columns in a large table to determine the highest value for each row. In SQL Server 2022, we have the GREATEST function, which will return the greatest value from those columns passed in. How many columns can I include in an expression like this:

select GREATEST( col1, col2, col3, ...)

See possible answers