You have to check the status of the full text catalog.

Start with this one:

select * from sys.master_files where type = 4

also check out sys.fulltext_catalogs

Any reason not to make it a stored proc of its own?

Ah, but if you did that, wouldn't that be crossing the production / development line and violating SOX?

Add me to the list wishing you a happy birthday, Steve.

I turned 40 less than a month ago. Husband asked me if I wanted a party but I decided...

While it's not something that I have tested, the documentation appears to say that the data would be persisted in the computed column when the root/source columns' data changes. ...

Depends upon what you mean by "auto populate". Here's an explanation from BOL:

"Unless otherwise specified, computed columns are virtual columns that are not physically stored in the table. Their...

Unless you have a compelling need to do otherwise, that should be done with either a view or a calculated column.

I've not worked with encryption directly but have done some research. From what I've seen, the issue is that you have to backup and restore the master key (apparently...

A 2000 backup does not include the full text catalog. A 2005 backup does.

Check sys.master_files to see if all your files are online. For full-text catalog (type 4 in...

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/bb331794.aspx

The MCTS is a good general book - be aware that it has a bunch of errata.

I'm also fond of the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Unleashed book (published by SAMS)...

When I did the install (I think it wasn't even SP1), I got warning messages and I just said run anyway. Then I immediately ran Windows updater which got...

I've got it running on home premium. The trick is to be on SP 2 and to configure the security settings properly (surface area configuration | add new administrator).

You may want to rethink the name as timestamp has a specific meaning in T-SQL land.

"Is a data type that exposes automatically generated, unique binary numbers within a database. timestamp...

This ain't necessarily pretty or efficient but it works:

Select

substring(YourColumn,1,1) as substr,

count(*)

from

YourTable

GROUP BY substring(YourColumn,1,1)