Gracefully Handle Errors using TRY CATCH Logic in SQL Server Stored Procedures
Learn how to capture errors in SQL Server stored procedures and gracefully handle errors using Try Catch coding in your stored procedures.
Ask For What You Need
Today we have a guest editorial where Andy Warren asks you if you know how to ask for things at work. Many IT works struggle to ask for resources, but read on to understand how Andy might help you get more done at your job.
PowerShell Dynamic Parameters and SQL Server
Have you ever been in a situation that you want to call a cmdlet or a function with a parameter that depends on a conditional criteria that is available as a list? In this article I will show a technique where you can use PowerShell Dynamic Parameters to assist the user with parameter values.
Sharing the Work You Do
During one my yearly review, I got one particularly interesting piece of feedback. “You need to share the work you are doing and share with the company.” This is basically a matter of letting people know about the stuff we are putting out on Simple-Talk.com. It is something that is regularly done here, but to […]
A Great Place to Work
Do you enjoy your workplace or employer? Steve does and has a few thoughts on what that is like for him.
Django's ORM vs. Raw SQL: When to Use Which
When it comes to building websites, how you work with your database can make a huge difference in how well your site runs. That's especially true if you're using Django, a popular tool for making websites with Python. Django comes with something called an Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) layer, which is a fancy way of saying […]
SQL WAITFOR Command to Delay SQL Code Execution
One of the most rarely used commands in SQL is the WAITFOR command. It is one option to invoke a delay in program execution in absentia. Because it is sparsely used, how and where it can be applied when needed is often forgotten. For example, we could use this to mimic a user response or input or perhaps to collect data at certain intervals during the day.
State of the Database Landscape 2024: Shifting skills to match constant demands
The key findings from our industry survey reveal how the database landscape has become increasingly complex in recent years. As modern-day business demands and data needs evolve, data professionals and organizations are affected everywhere. Here are the changes coming in 2024 and beyond that you need to know about.
Level 27: Time Intelligence – Dates Functions: The DAX “Parallel Period” and “Same Period Last Year” Functions
Business Intelligence Architect, “Analysis Services Maestro, and author Bill Pearson introduces two somewhat similar DAX Time Intelligence functions related to “parallel” Date periods: PARALLELPERIOD() and SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR(). He discusses the syntax, uses and operation of each function, and then provides hands-on exposure to it in Power BI.
Take A Vote and Accept Your Loss
Learning to make decisions and then get work done is important to Steve. Read his thoughts today on many of the decisions software teams need to make.
Blogs
A New Word: on tenderhooks
By Steve Jones
on tenderhooks – adj. feeling the primal satisfaction of being needed by someone, which...
Ramblings about data communities and your contributions, no excuses
By DataOnWheels
I have been active in the data community throughout my career. I have met...
SQL Server Journey till 2025 (brief)
By Vinay Thakur
Quick Summary for Microsoft SQL Server till 2025, I am fortunate to be part...
Forums
Ola Hallengren Index Optimize Maintenance can we have data compression = page
I have a quick question on Ola Hallengren Index Optimize Maintenance . Do we...
how do i map the "current" object entry in for each to one variable
hi, in an ssis for each loop over an object variable called MyListVariable, i...
Simulating Mercury’s Orbital Motion Using Pure T-SQL (NASA 2025 Dataset)
SQL Server is typically viewed as a transactional or analytical database engine. However, it...
Question of the Day
String Similarity I
On SQL Server 2025, when I run this, what is returned?
SELECT EDIT_DISTANCE_SIMILARITY('SQL Server', 'MySQL') See possible answers