Working Your 40
Will the 40 hour work week change anytime soon? A survey seems to think so, and Steve Jones (somewhat) agrees.
SSIS Basics: Using the Execute SQL Task to Generate Result Sets
The Execute SQL Task of SSIS is extraordinarily useful, but it can cause a lot of difficulty for developers learning SSIS, or only using it occasionally. What it needed, we felt, was a clear step-by-step guide that showed the basics of how to use it effectively. Annette Allen has once again cleared the fog of confusion.
Last chance for a day of free SQL Server training at SQL in the City 2012
SQL Server developers and database administrators have one last chance for a full day of free training and networking at SQL in the City 2012.
Parsing Parameters in a Stored Procedure
This article shows a clean non-looping method to parse comma separated values from a parameter passed to a stored procedure.
SQL Server Function to return a range of dates
A quick solution is a table function that will create a date range based on the parameters given. Then, you can just join to the results.
Manipulating XML Data in SQL Server
When the average database developer is obliged to manipulate XML, either shredding it into relational format, or creating it from SQL, it is often done 'at arms length'. A shame, since effective use of techniques that go beyond the basics can save much code,
Software Teams
Building a team when you are developing software of any size is important and Steve Jones shares one of the most important things you need.
Stairway to SQL Dialects Level 1: Overview
In the first level of his Stairway to SQL Dialects, Joe Celko looks at the origins of the SQL language and how the language has spawned the various different dialects in use today.
SQL Server Reporting Services 2012 Permissions
As you begin developing reports for deployment to a Report Server, what security considerations need to be taken into account in order to grant users access to run a report.
Blogs
Advice I Like: Knots
By Steve Jones
Learn how to tie a bowline knot. Practice in the dark. With one hand....
Shifting Mindsets: Why FinOps is Essential for Cloud Efficiency
By HeyMo0sh
As a DevOps practitioner, I’ve always focused on performance, scalability, and automation. But as...
March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates
By Brian Kelley
On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released...
Forums
Multiple Deployment Processes
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How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How to Use sqlpackage to...
Upgrading Admin Queries
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Upgrading Admin Queries
Question of the Day
Upgrading Admin Queries
I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?
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