The RECOMPILE Options
This artcle attempts to differentiate between the uses of WITH RECOMPILE and OPTION (RECOMPILE) features.
Table Value Constructors in SQL Server 2008
Table Value Constructors (TVCs) are a useful feature of 2008, allowing you to specify tables of values and expressions. Users who are stuck with previous versions of SQL Server can play along, since Rob Sheldon demonstrates that there have always been ways of doing this in SQL Server, though less elegantly.
We Need a DBA Boot Camp
Today we have a guest editorial from Andy Warren. We often find that many DBAs fall into the job as accidental DBAs, and need more training. Is a boot camp the way to get them up to speed quickly?
Whether to use UNION or OR in SQL Server Queries
Recently I came across with an article on DB2 about using Union instead of OR. So I thought of carrying out a research on SQL Server on what scenarios UNION is optimal in and which scenarios OR would be best. I will analyze this with a few scenarios using samples taken from the AdventureWorks database
How Much Is It Worth?
This editorial was originally published on Nov 21, 2005. It is being re-run today as Steve is on holiday. How much money is it worth to compromise your ethics? Steve Jones asks today as many companies around the world seem to be doing that.
Raw Materials - Disapproval
: "It is a narrow mind that cannot see things from more than one point of view." —George Eliot
Top 10 Index T-SQL Statements That SQL Server DBAs Should Know
Indexes speed retrieval of rows from database tables or views. Here are the top index-related T-SQL statements that SQL Server DBAs should know.
Cloud Barriers
I'd like to hear the thoughts of DBAs out there on Windows and SQL Azure, and the prospects of moving applications and databases into the clouds. How many DBAs work for companies that have done it or are seriously considering it? What are the deepest concerns?
Independence Day 2011
A holiday in the US has most people away from work. Steve Jones leaves you a few thoughts and humor from his vacation.
Remove HTML tags from strings using the SQL Server CLR
It is recommended that you remove all special characters and HTML formatting. This task can be handled in TSQL code, however in this case I have the opportunity to use .NET and the power of the regular expressions to manage the string. In this tip, I'll build a CLR function which cleans up a string of HTML tags and special characters. I'll use Visual Studio 2010 with C# as the programming language. Check out this tip for my solution.
Blogs
Monday Monitor Tips: Intelligent Alert Thresholds
By Steve Jones
At the recent Redgate Summit in Chicago, I demo’d (lightly) the ML based Alert...
A New Word: los vidados
By Steve Jones
los vidados – n. the half-remembered acquaintances you knew years ago, who you might...
In-Person CISA Training – April 13-16, 2026
By Brian Kelley
I will be leading an in-person Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exam prep class...
Forums
String_agg not working as needed
I'm trying to get this string_agg to put all the 'comments' into one result...
Vectors in SQL Server 2025
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Vectors in SQL Server 2025
Odd Sequences
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Odd Sequences
Question of the Day
Odd Sequences
What values are returned from this code?
CREATE SEQUENCE NumericSequence
AS NUMERIC(5,1)
START WITH 1.0
INCREMENT BY 0.1;
GO
SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR NumericSequence
GO
SELECT NEXT VALUE FOR NumericSequence
GO See possible answers