A Strange Comparison

Dynamic Data Unmasking

The SQL Server 2016 dynamic data masking feature may seem like a great way to obfuscate data for downstream systems like dev and QA. Joe Obbish shows us that the data can be “unmasked” with T-SQL statements, so it’s not secure against anyone who can write their own queries.

Stairway to Advanced T-SQL Level 11: Using Logical Operators

SQL Server supports a number of different logical operators.  These operators can be used for testing Boolean conditions that return true, false and unknown in your T-SQL code.  Logical operators are useful for defining constraints to limit the rows be processed when selecting or updating data. This chapter will provide an overview of the logical […]

Stairway to Advanced T-SQL Level 10: Using Scalar Functions

Learn about scalar user defined functions in this next level in the Stairway.

Execute on DMVs without user having View Server State

Wanted to share this script to the community just in case anyone out there may be search for a way to allow a hosted customer the ability to query certain DMVs for information without granting them View Server State. There are some other options out there, but this worked better for me after going through […]

How Many Distinct Records

How Many Rows Remain?

Delete Duplicate Rows with No Primary Key on a SQL Server Table

Every once in awhile a table gets created without a primary key and duplicate records get entered. The problem gets even worse when you have two identical rows in the table and there is no way to distinguish between the two rows. So how do you delete the duplicate record?

Half Of You Don’t Understand Variables and Transactions.

Do table variables and variables respect transactions? If we set the value of a variable during a transaction, and we roll it back, what happens?

Creating and Using Inline Table-Valued Functions

Inline Table Valued Functions (iTVFs) are one type of user defined function that is available to implement in SQL Server since SQL Server 2000.

iTVFs remain a very useful tool in our SQL armoury, so let's quickly revisit them and the different ways we can use them in our code.