It seems you wrote a test script that did not cover the full range of possibilities. Include CHAR(198) and CHAR(230) in your test.

(2...

Super question.

HOLDLOCK does not do what it seems you think it does. HOLDLOCK is a synonym for SERIALIZABLE...

I found another issue with the recursive CTE solution, so I have removed it for...

mah_j (12/2/2012)

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so if i have a select on a table that takes long 25 seconds and an insert on the same table is running at the 10th second ,the insert...

Books Online (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms175519.aspx) explains the concept quite well:

The Database Engine uses intent locks to protect placing a shared (S) lock or exclusive (X) lock on a resource lower in the...

Or:

SELECT

OFFICE_ID = MAX(t.OFFICE_ID),

BINDER_ID = MAX(t.BINDER_ID),

t.BINDER_NO

FROM

(

SELECT

rb.*,

...

Or:

SELECT

rb.OFFICE_ID,

rb.BINDER_NO,

rb.BINDER_ID

FROM dbo.REV_BINDERS AS rb

WHERE

rb.BINDER_NO IN

(

...

Or:

SELECT

rb.OFFICE_ID,

rb.BINDER_NO,

rb.BINDER_ID

FROM dbo.REV_BINDERS AS rb

WHERE

EXISTS

(

...

SELECT

t.OFFICE_ID,

t.BINDER_NO,

t.BINDER_ID

FROM

(

SELECT

rb.OFFICE_ID,

...

SELECT

rb.OFFICE_ID,

MAX(rb.BINDER_ID),

MAX(rb.BINDER_NO)

FROM dbo.REV_BINDERS AS rb

GROUP BY

rb.OFFICE_ID

ORDER BY

rb.OFFICE_ID;

+-----------+------------------+------------------+

| OFFICE_ID | (No column...

It will often consider both alternatives. It estimates...

-- removed --

dwain.c (11/30/2012)

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Looks like I've got a bit of reading and exploring to do now. Looks like a heck of a library. Gonna keep me away from writing articles...

Copying my article response here for anyone that doesn't get as far as reading all the comments:

SSC author Solomon Rutzky[/url] has the free SQL# library available at http://www.sqlsharp.com. Among...