15 years of experience with Identity columns
An identity column is an auto incrementing columnAn identity column is typically used as a primary keyA primary key that’s...
2014-06-04
1,064 reads
Using PIVOT function without a CTE
There are some cases when you need to use a PIVOT function in SQL but you cannot use a CTE....
2014-06-04
1,284 reads
Power Pivot as the Core to your Power BI Solution
I’ve noticed a recent trend with many presentations and articles on Power BI and Excel functionality. Many of these presentations...
2014-06-03
1,128 reads
Access Granted or Not? Question of the Day
Access Granted or Not? is my latest Question Of The Day and I think it represents a pretty good troubleshooting...
2014-06-03
476 reads
I Voted For the 2014 PASS NomCom
I was interested to see that the online voting system has changed this year to one powered by Simply Voting....
2014-06-03
412 reads
SSAS Performance Logger Now Available
I’ve created a simple query performance logging tool for Analysis Services, called the SSAS Performance Logger. The tool allows you...
2014-06-03
486 reads
Recent Reading: The Food Network, And The White House!
I haven’t posted much on books lately, here are two that are different:
Inside the Food Network. Definitely some gossip, but...
2014-06-03
354 reads
Busy Busy Weeks, Finally Some Good News! SQL 2008 / 2008 R2 Will Get Their Final Service Pack!
We will actually be getting our final Service Pack!
The information can be found here. You may still want extended support...
2014-06-03
662 reads
I'm A Candidate For The 2014 PASS Nomination Committee
The 2014 PASS election cycle begins today when voting opens for the Nomination Committee (NomCom) and I'm one of eleven...
2014-06-03
1,129 reads
Attaching All Databases with PowerShell–Attaching Missing Databases
I wrote a PowerShell script recently to actually accomplish a task I that I needed. What’s more, this was the...
2014-06-03
1,298 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
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Let's Talk Certifications
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