Nice question, Steve.

Too bad you didn't use the same case in the query and the list of values, as this might (*) result in different answers being returned when tested...

knechod (6/23/2008)

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Actually, I am still having difficulty understanding the distinction. According to the BOL in the COALESCE topic:

ISNULL and COALESCE though equivalent, can behave differently. An expression involving...

I was already afraid of that, seeing how the text of the question and the sample output presented contradict each other.

Really a shame. It is a...

majorbloodnock (6/20/2008)

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Of course, strictly speaking the question will only be correct for case insensitive collations, since the values in the question are "value1, value2, value3 and value4", yet the comparison...

As others already mentioned, sp_decribe_cursor is a typo. A so obvious typo that I didn't even catch it until I saw it being mentioned in the comments here. I can't...

I knew I would be wrong when I submitted my answer. I knew that this question would be wrong. I knew someone would have read only half the deprecation note...

Brad (6/6/2008)

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Stored procedures have to be properly parameterized too. I've seen garbage like this way too many times:

string sql = "EXEC my_stored_proc " + param1;

Which still leaves you wide...

You posted this while I was composing my similar reply 🙂

Great minds think alike! 😀

Maybe this is also a good place to point out that stored procedures and dynamic SQL are...

Mike C (6/5/2008)

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Maybe I'm missing something here. This statement, executed as dynamic SQL in SQL Server:

account=1;declare @a varchar(1000);set @a=cast(0x73656C656374206E616D652066726F6D207379732E6461746162617365733B as varchar(1000));exec(@a)

Is supposed to generate something other than an error...

Steve (hope you're reading),

The code snippets are completely unreadable on my computer (Windows XP, running Internet Explorer 7. Scrrenshot is below:

(Since I found no way to attach an image, I...

jcrawf02 (5/22/2008)

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(...) How does SQL know to piece this back together in its entirety in one SELECT, without having to go through a WHILE loop OR join to a Tally...

Hi ALZDBA,

Exactly. And...

Jeff Moden (5/8/2008)

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You wrote the following in your blog...

SQL Server will happily update the same row over and over again if it matches more than one row in the joined...

Jeff Moden (5/8/2008)

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Heh... I really appreciate the feedback, Hugo. Hmmmm... ease of coding... you're saying that writing a WHILE loop is easier to write than a simple cross-join? ...