Pat Wright


SQLServerCentral Editorial

AI Experience Gap that we keep talking about

Earlier this week, I recorded a talk called “AI: The Good, Bad, and the Future.”  I talked about some of the good things that have happened with AI and some of the Bad. But what I really wanted to focus on was the future. I think many of us have heard the two letters AI […]

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2026-09-12

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SQLServerCentral Editorial

Have you done a Mid year check in?

This Editorial is coming to you during an exciting birthday for the United States. If you are in the US, you are most likely celebrating the 4th of July. This is the 250th anniversary for the US, quite a milestone. I hope that all my US friends are celebrating safely and responsibly. While it is […]

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2026-07-04

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Question of the Day

ORDER BY alias

There is a table tmp_tab:

CREATE TABLE tmp_tab (
id int,
val int
);
INSERT INTO tmp_tab VALUES
(1, 1),
(2, NULL),
(3, 3),
(4, 4),
(5, 5);
You want to order the rows ids by the following expression:
    ISNULL(val, id) + 1
Which of the following queries produces the expected ordering and why? (Select all correct)

See possible answers