I appreciate the fact that there are no pop ups on this site.  I use it quite frequently and pop ups are extremely annoying.  It seems like you guys...

"in some cases execution wise"

If the numbers table remains temporary/memory table, your solution may outperform.  If a static numbers/tally table is used, it will out-perform the temp-table solution. 

Try a reverse-aggregate using a numbers or tally table.  This example creates the tally table on the fly, but you could create a static numbers/tally table for less overhead.

declare @table...

The only way I see to link a temporary table to it's creator SPID is to look at the locks.  If the creating process has a lock on the temp...

I also agree with Rudy.  There is no such thing as a typical day.  Also, keep in mind that routine tasks performed by DBAs varies greatly based on which...

You can get the execution plan from a Profiler trace by process ID.  If you run Profiler and include the Performance: Execution Plan event, you will be able to look...

I think it is important to note that stress can cause physical sickness.  To get technical, mental stress causes oxidative stress, which can cause premature aging, reduced immune system...

There are many resources pertaining to 'Best Practices' that you can hedge off of.  Do a search on SSC and you'll find many.  Here are a few that I used...

This will work as long as your values are all 8 characters in length.  Otherwise, you may need to manipulate the string with substring.

declare @string varchar(10)

set @string = '050706'

select @string...

Can you post your DDL for the two tables, some sample data for each table, and your expected result set based off of the sample data?

By the way, I changed my example to use a table variable as opposed to a static table (for my own testing ease). 

declare @machine_settings table (machine_id int, setting_type_id varchar(25),...

"Just an another remark:

A table variable cannot have any index, a temp table can."

You can create a clustered index on a table variable as a primary key. 

compare the output...

Look at the SQL Server Agent tables...sysjobs, sysjobsteps.

I am still not clear on what you need.  I see that you have added Before and After to your column list in your new SELECT.  Can you post an...

A SELECT statement will put a Shared lock on the data it is selecting.  If you use the ROWLOCK hint, you will be instructing SQL Server to place an Intent...