Mind Over Milkshake (Thoughts Matter)
You mind can influence your body. Maybe. A study Steve found says that could be true, but he certainly thinks it can influence your attitude and how you respond to situations at work.
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.
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