Why Databases Still Fascinate Me
I get asked a lot about why or how I began working with databases years ago. I did not wake up one day and decide, “I am going to...
2025-11-28 (first published: 2025-11-10)
453 reads
Blog Posts
Happy Thanksgiving! (USA Holiday)
In the United States, today is Thanksgiving. The intent behind the holiday is to remember all that we have to be thankful. I have a lengthy list from friends...
2025-11-27
36 reads
Export a Power BI Report that cannot be Downloaded
Yes, you’re reading that right, we’re going to download a report that cannot be downloaded. Well, it cannot be downloaded from the user interface, that is. Suppose you have...
2025-11-26 (first published: 2025-11-06)
489 reads
Microsoft Post-Quantum Crypto APIs Are Now Generally Available
I mentioned this in my talk on Quantum Computing at the PASS Data Community Summit: Microsoft has announced that the post-quantum cryptography APIs are now generally available.
2025-11-26
308 reads
Query Intelligence in SQL Server 2025: What Developers Need to Know
When Microsoft announced SQL Server 2025, I was curious about what would truly change the way developers and DBA’s interact with data. Over the years, we have seen incremental...
2025-11-26 (first published: 2025-11-05)
743 reads
The PASS Data Community Summit 2025 Recap
It’s Monday. I’ve been home since Fri night, but with a busy weekend, I’m still recovering from the PASS Data Community Summit. There’s a nice wrap from the crew,...
2025-11-26
32 reads
SQL Server 2025 Generally Available
This was announced last week at Microsoft Ignite and it's been covered by others such as Brent Ozar, but if you haven't heard, SQL Server 2025 is now generally...
2025-11-25
212 reads
Check Power BI Bookmarks with Semantic Link Labs
Have you ever added a visual to a Power BI report page and published the updated report only to realize you forgot to adjust a related bookmark? It’s very...
2025-11-24 (first published: 2025-11-05)
227 reads
Finding and Killing Blockers with Redgate AI Tech
Redgate has a research arm, called the Foundry, that has been experimenting with AIs and DBA tasks. This post shows how GenAI tech can be helpful to DBAs in...
2025-11-24 (first published: 2025-11-05)
337 reads
Prepping for Certification, Part 2 of ?
The advantage of understanding the make-up of the exam: I can tailor my efforts for best results.
2025-11-24
34 reads
Blogs
How to Clear the SSMS Cache (SSMS 21 and Later)
By SQLPals
How to Clear the SSMS Cache (SSMS 21 and Later) Updated...
The flight recorder: Replaying what an AI agent did on my SQL Server
By Arun Sirpal
“What exactly did it do on my server?” is the first question a DBA...
Announcements from the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference — Barcelona 2026
By James Serra
Microsoft shared a broad set of Fabric, Power BI, and SQL updates at FabCon...
Forums
Let's Talk Certifications
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The Hidden Security Risks of Role Combination in SSAS Tabular
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Hidden Security Risks of...
The Empty Aggregate
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Empty Aggregate
Question of the Day
The Empty Aggregate
I have this table in a SQL Server 2025 database:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[CustomerOrder] ( [OrderID] [int] NULL, [CustomerID] [int] NULL, [total] [money] NULL ) ON [PRIMARY] GOWhat is returned from this code? (answers are for the sum and then the count)
SELECT SUM(total) AS sum,
COUNT(total) AS count
FROM dbo.CustomerOrder;
See possible answers