Bye Bye to the RAISERROR Function?
This article describes the use and advantages of the throw statement.
Too Many Bricks, Too Much Data
Too much data can be as much of a problem as too little. Today Steve Jones talks about some problems that we have in working with lots of data and how we might address the issues. Those that do well, will succeed in the future.
How to Get Information About Your Backups
When you need to restore but aren't 100% sure about the contents of your backup files, what do you do? Head to the headers. Grant Fritchey explains how to find the useful bits in these huge stores of information and make sure you restore the right files.
SQL Saturday #124 - Columbia
Come to a free day of SQL Server training in Bogota, Columbia on Apr 14, 2012.
SQL Saturday #127 - Rio de Janeiro
A free day of training comes to Rio de Janeiro on Apr 14, 2012. Sign up today to learn more about SQL Server.
Replace existing Database? JFDI!
Tony Davis argues that the WITH REPLACE option of the RESTORE DATABASE command is a case where the naming of the option masks its true "JFDI" nature…
Skipping April Fools
No April Fool's jokes from SQLServerCentral this year and Steve explains why today.
SQL Server Instant File Initialization (PQW)
In this article we’re going to look at instant file initialization. What it is, why it’s cool and how you can use it in your environments.
TSQL Challenge 79 - Finding the Islands
The challenge is to find the Islands(gaps) in sequential dates. You need to write a query to identify continuous intervals from the start date and end date.
Init Replication From Backup
One of the great features with SQL Replication is the ability to initialize a subscription from backup instead of from a snapshot. The official use for this is to take a database backup and restore it to a subscriber then replicate any additional changes to the backup.
Blogs
Automated SQL Server Benchmarking with HammerDB and Docker: A Complete Testing Framework
I’m excited to announce the release of a new open-source project that fully automates...
T-SQL Snapshot Backups on Availability Group Secondary Replicas
One of my favourite features of SQL Server 2022 was the T-SQL Snapshot Backups....
The Book of Redgate: Hours
By Steve Jones
I have said and written this many times: Redgate Software is the type of...
Forums
Optional Parameter Plan Optimization in SQL Server 2025: Fixing the Kitchen-Sink Search Procedure
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Optional Parameter Plan Optimization in...
AI Experience Gap that we keep talking about
Comments posted to this topic are about the item AI Experience Gap that we...
Question of the Day
ORDER BY alias
There is a table tmp_tab:
CREATE TABLE tmp_tab ( id int, val int );
INSERT INTO tmp_tab VALUES (1, 1), (2, NULL), (3, 3), (4, 4), (5, 5);You want to order the rows ids by the following expression:
ISNULL(val, id) + 1Which of the following queries produces the expected ordering and why? (Select all correct) See possible answers