With the number of features within SQL Server it is actually quite hard to decide what somebody with 5 years experience should know - its really down to want you...

This uses REPLICATE to replace each character in a string with '#':

CREATE TABLE #test(

TestvalueVARCHAR(60)

);

INSERT INTO #test(Testvalue)

VALUES('one'),

('long string'),

('slightly longer string than the previous one'),

('12121212');

SELECT * FROM #test;

UPDATE #test

SET Testvalue = REPLICATE('#',LEN(Testvalue));

SELECT...

Try creating a database Diagram with the tables you're interested in. That will show the dependencies between the tables and possibly make it easier to follow.

There was an article on this quite some time back: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/SELECT+*/68324/.

If you're sure of the time, I'd run a server-side trace 5 minutes either side of the time and look in that.

CptCrusty1 (3/26/2014)

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I can't configure it in a query hint since it's not in a query. I'm using a Data Flow Task in BIDS to import from a Flat File...

An interesting question but I do think it should specify the ANSI_NULLS setting, as the answer depends upon that.

In BIDS (which you didn't mention you were using) the...

In the past I've been told to specify MAXDOP of 1 if I've needed to import large files and keep the sequence, because SQL Server may decide to run parallel...

Please don't post the same question several times - it scatters the conversation over several threads.

Original article - http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/Topic1548455-391-1.aspx

The various ways to specify the partition with various types of index are detailed in this article - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187526(v=sql.105).aspx

Welcome to SSC.

Unfortunately the query alone is rarely enough to help with performance issues. However, this type of question is quite common and so there is an article on what...

murdakillemall (3/18/2014)

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Just a note, in my experience, it seems easier to convert (or cast) the string to date in the YYYYMMDD format as there is no separator involved and this...

paul.knibbs (3/14/2014)

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I've had people who should know...

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