SELECT MonthCount AS [Total Entries],
    DATENAME(MONTH, RecvdMonth) + ' ' + CAST(YEAR(RecvdMonth) AS varchar(4)) AS MONTH

FROM (

SELECT

DATEADD(MONTH, DATEDIFF(MONTH, 0, RecvdDate), 0) AS RecvdMonth,
COUNT(ID) AS...

You could do this using a stored procedure.  The structure can be returned by the query itself, you don't have to pre-define it.  In theory there are potential SQL injection...

I can see that, so another try with the code again.  If I've done dup posts, admins please delete the extraneous post(s).

I've been extremely busy and so haven't had time...

I can't see my own last post(s), so I don't know if it(they) showed up or not.

I'd urge you not to use a temp table for that.  If SQL goes down during the processing, you'll never be able to determine what the original key values were.

The function code is in the code box.  To invoke it, do this:

SELECT * FROM dbo.GetMonthStartAndEndDates(GETDATE())

Or, if using with another table:

SELECT ...

FROM dbo.data_table dt

CROSS APPLY dbo.GetMonthStartAndEndDates(dt.some_date_column) gm

SET...

DECLARE @day varchar(9)
DECLARE @end_date date
DECLARE @start_date date

SET @start_date = '20190525'
SET @end_date = '20190531'
SET @day = 'Wednesday'

SELECT DATEADD(DAY, -DATEDIFF(DAY, day_number, @end_date) % 7, @end_date) AS date_you_want
FROM (
 ...

SELECT ca1.*
FROM #SomeTable st
CROSS APPLY (
    SELECT Col1, Col2, Col3, Col4
    WHERE Col4 <> 'ALL'
    UNION ALL
 ...

;with data as (
select 1 as ID,'Apple' as ProductName,'1' as serving, 'g' as unit union all
select 1 as ID,'Orange' as ProductName,'2' as serving, 'mg' as unit union...

Yes, there is a penalty, because SQL bases its memory allocation on the column lengths.  If you think about it, that actually makes perfect sense, as presumably longer columns would...

The biggest advantage to me of partitioning is being able to do separate compression, reorg, etc., on each partition.

But, I too did have some cases where partition elimination has made...

If possible, put the full details in the "Description" in the backup file.  That way it's always automatically/inherently available with the backup.  The description can be retrieved prior to an...

I'm dating myself here, but:

Bill or George! Anything but Sue!

Oops, I left out one important line, to prevent run-away trigger recursion.  In this case the UPDATE itself would prevent recursion, but it's safer to always check, in case other...

Typically you'd use an AFTER trigger to correct the data.  If you wanted to, you could also have the trigger verify whether the value is a valid date or not.