Technical Article

The Ghost in the Machine

Now that hierarchical data structures are popular again because of XML, their full hierarchical processing is still being limited to flat two dimensional linear path processing by relational processing. This will change when database professionals realize that ANSI SQL relational processing can now support full multipath nonlinear hierarchical processing.

External Article

Validate SQL Server Backups Exist with Policy Based Management

I recently submitted a tip regarding the existence of your backup files using the undocumented system stored procedure xp_fileexist. But how would you go about executing that script against all your SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 instances? I took that script and decided to go one step further using Policy Based Management to create a custom policy that you can then run against all your SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008 instances.

SQLServerCentral Editorial

Encryptionphobia

The battle to secure personal and business data is a tough one, and the consequences of mishandling sensitive data can be severe. In this guest editorial, John Magnabosco argues that it's high time people overcame their fear of encryption.

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Practical Ways to Approach SQL Server Problems and Case Studies

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Working with SQL Server can involve more than just writing queries. Understanding database design,...

Measuring Productivity

By Steve Jones - SSC Editor

Comments posted to this topic are about the item Measuring Productivity

Importing Excel files into SQL Server using DuckDB and Python

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Question of the Day

Tracking All the Queries

I have 3 instances of a brand new long running query that are executing on a SQL Server 2025 instance. Query store is enabled. One of the queries is killed by the administrator, one is cancelled by the user. The other runs to completion. How many rows are in Query Store for this query?

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