Aggregating Correlated Sub-Queries
Every now and then you may attempt to calculate an aggregate function -- such as SUM() -- on a correlated subquery, only to encounter the following error:
Output Parameters
Regular columnist Robert Marda writes about the basics of using output parameters. If you're not using output params we hope this article will get you started - they are a great way to return less data to the client, perfect if you need only a few values and not a recordset/resultset.
What's Fair
If you read my recent editorial called Get Some Help, you realize that I didn't get any World Series tickets from the sale on the Colorado Rockie's web site. Not to berate the subject, but some friends and I had an interesting debate on how the situation was handled and what could be done differently.
Data is at the Heart of Enterprise-Wide BI and DW, Part 3
My online series of articles has been focused on the need for businesses to "get serious" about their approach to developing an enterprise business intelligence (BI) and data warehousing (DW) capability. When pursuing this capability it is important to adopt a holistic view, followed by disciplined investment and execution.
Microsoft Windows PowerShell and SQL Server 2005 SMO – Part 9
Learn how to use PowerShell in conjunction with SMO to Generate an SQL Server Script.
Mini-Me
Will the next version of Windows be a "Mini-Me" version of Vista? Who knows, and it's too early to tell, but apparently there's a mini-kernel version of Windows 7, the one after Vista, which fits into 25MB on disk. That's a touch lower than the 4GB that Vista takes up. Granted it's not a full […]
Views for Abstraction
Views are one of the more basic constructs in SQL Server, but often it seems that developers are not sure when to use them. SQL Server expert DBA and trainer Andy Warren brings us a look at views as an abstraction layer in your database.
Celko on SQL: Natural, Artificial and Surrogate Keys Explained
SQL programming guru Joe Celko offers a classification scheme and advice on using the right keys.
SQL Server 2005 Express Edition - Part 8 - XCopy Deployment
Part 8 of our series provides an overview of User Instance model (also known as “Run As Normal User” or simply RANU) and automatic database connectivity, which serve as two primary enablers for XCopy deployment, facilitating distribution of single-user databases.
Date and Time in SQL Server 2008
SQL Server 2008 is well on its way to being complete and released with the release of the second CTP recently. There aren't a tremendous number of changes, but one of the more interesting ones is the changes to date and time handling in this new platform. The time and date datatypes have been separated and longtime SQL Server author Vincent Rainardi brings us a short look at how there can be used.
Blogs
Shifting Mindsets: Why FinOps is Essential for Cloud Efficiency
By HeyMo0sh
As a DevOps practitioner, I’ve always focused on performance, scalability, and automation. But as...
March 2026 SQL Server Security Updates
By Brian Kelley
On Patch Tuesday, in addition to OS and Office security patches, Microsoft also released...
How Fabric Mirroring Transformed with SQL Server 2025
When mirroring was first released for Azure SQL Database, it used Change Data Capture...
Forums
Multiple Deployment Processes
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How to Use sqlpackage to Detect Schema Drift Between Azure SQL Databases
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How to Use sqlpackage to...
Upgrading Admin Queries
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Upgrading Admin Queries
Question of the Day
Upgrading Admin Queries
I have a query from a former DBA that we run on SQL Server 2025 to check on database metadata. This query references sys.sysaltfiles. I want to refactor this code to be more modern. Which DMV should I reference instead?
See possible answers