Understanding and Using APPLY (Part 1)
The first of a two-part series of articles examining the APPLY operator. Learn the basics of how this operator works and how it can help you solve some tricky problems.
T-SQL Development, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Word
Microsoft Office Word is useful. There, I have confessed it, it's useful to me while I am working with TSQL. It's possibly only the search and replace function that I like but it's wrapped in Word so I have to take it like that. I use it a lot to help me capture the results of a stored procedure.
Are Auto-Updates Good?
Internet Explorer is going to get automatic updates soon and Steve Jones thinks it's a mixed blessing.
ETL Magic with SSIS – Part I
The first part of two parts of a paper discussion the implementation of a "real-world" ETL example using SSIS.
Raw Materials - Decisions, Decisions
Centuries ago, the philosopher Leibniz had a dream that all decisions could be made by machine. Today, his vision comes to life, more or less.
Using bit columns with NULLs when three options exist in SQL Server
Frequently surveys ask yes/no questions and use a bit datatype. What are the effects of allowing this column to be NULL in a SQL Server table? Check out this tip to learn more.
Stairway to T-SQL DML Level 7: Summarizing Data Using a Simple GROUP BY Clause
In this article you will be see how to group data using the simple GROUP BY clause, in order to summarize more complex data.
Truth and Demos
Today Steve Jones reminds us that we are all selling something in technology, even if it's our reputation. We ought to be truthful in our dealings with our clients.
XML-XSL Transformations in SQL Server
With the release of Master Data Services (MDS) for SQL Server 2008R2, it is now possible to perform XML transformations on the database server.
When to Break Down Complex Queries
Microsoft SQL Server is able to create very efficient query plans in most cases. However, there are certain query patterns that can cause problems for the query optimizer; this article describes four of these patterns.
Blogs
Upgrading SQL Server Containers on the Laptop
By Steve Jones
I don’t have SQL Server installed on my laptop. In an effort to keep...
How to Find Expensive Queries in Amazon Redshift
Slow-running queries can degrade your Redshift cluster’s performance and lead to increased costs. Identifying...
The Notification Trap: How Input Fatigue Is Killing Deep Work in Tech
By gbargsley
If you've been here before, you know this blog is usually about SQL Server,...
Forums
SQL 2019 instance with AG, across 2 Windows 2016 OS servers - OSin-place upgrade
Hi all Can I get some perspective from the community please on performing in-place...
How Long is a Long I/O?
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How Long is a Long...
T-SQL Trigonometric Functions in SQL Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item T-SQL Trigonometric Functions in SQL...
Question of the Day
How Long is a Long I/O?
In SQL Server 2025, a long I/O is recorded in the error log with message 833. How long much an I/O request be outstanding before this message is written to the log?
See possible answers