The End of Year Vacation Burn
It’s been a good year for me. With my sabbatical, I felt like I’ve gotten away from work quite a bit this year. I’ve had a few vacations around...
2025-10-20
33 reads
Blog Posts
Announcements from the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference
A bunch of new features for Microsoft Fabric were announced at the Microsoft Fabric Community Conference (FabCon Vienna) recently. Here are all the new features that I found most interesting, with...
2025-10-17 (first published: 2025-09-24)
1,616 reads
The Book of Redgate: Don’t be an a**hole
This was one of the original values: The facing page has this text: No matter how smart you are, or how good you are at narrowly defined tasks, there...
2025-10-17
189 reads
The Challenge of Implicit Transactions: #SQLNewBlogger
I saw an article recently about implicit transactions and coincidentally, I had a friend get caught by this. A quick post to show the impact of this setting. Another...
2025-10-17 (first published: 2025-09-24)
320 reads
A Broken Copilot Query
I was testing the new SSMS (v22 Preview 3) with Copilot and ran into an interesting issue. This is part of a series of experiments with AI systems. My...
2025-10-16
164 reads
Set Theory vs. Batch Mode in SQL Server
Set Theory vs. Batch Mode in SQL Server
Not long ago, a colleague of mine was completely shocked when he first heard about SQL Server’s Batch Mode feature. His immediate...
2025-10-15 (first published: 2025-09-23)
643 reads
The Mystery of the Locked-Up Database -Scooby Dooing Episode 6
No Scooby-Doo story is complete without footprints leading to a hidden passage. In SQL Server 2025, those footprints point us straight toward the next big feature: optimized locking. And...
2025-10-15 (first published: 2025-09-24)
1,491 reads
From Data Custodian to Innovation Catalyst: The Evolving Role of the CDO
There was a time when the Chief Data Officer lived in the shadows of the enterprise. Their office lights burned late into the night as they combed through spreadsheets...
2025-10-14
38 reads
SQL Server Upgrades
I’ve had this conversation at least a 1000 times over the course of my career working with SQL Server and teaching classes. Is it better to upgrade in place...
2025-10-14
78 reads
Accelerating AI with Confidence: Why Microsoft Purview is Key to Responsible Innovation
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept. It is here, embedded in the way we work, create, and make decisions. From generative assistants to predictive analytics, AI is...
2025-10-13 (first published: 2025-09-18)
378 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