Using BCP to export the contents of MAX datatypes to a file
Phil Factor presents a poetic stored procedure for storing any VARCHAR(MAX) to file.
CLR: Reflections on Reflection
Do you wish callers of your library could describe their types to you programmatically? Read a little about reflection in CLR Programming.
Microsoft Indexing Service HOW-TO
This article describes how to provide full text search using Microsoft Indexing Service in .NET applications.
Using Fuzzy Lookups for Record Linkage
SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) includes two very interesting transforms, the Fuzzy Grouping and Fuzzy Lookup transformations. Brian Norberg discussed the former in another article and this time examines the Fuzzy Lookup Transformation.
Making SQL Server 2005 Integration Services Packages Portable
SSIS introduced a feature called "Package Configurations". Package configurations allow us to make SSIS packages portable and help us change SQL Server and file connectivity information dynamically.
Transaction Isolation and the New Snapshot Isolation Level
Concurrency and transaction isolation are a prickly subject, difficult to explain with any kind of clarity without boring the reader and leaving their poor brain in a complete muddle. Therefore, it is often ignored in the vain hope it won't affect us and we can forget all about it. Well you can't ignore it any more and with SQL Server 2005 there's a whole new isolation level added to the four that already exist.
Temporarily Changing an Unknown Password of the sa Account
You are asked for the sa password for a SQL Server in order to perform a software upgrade. You, the DBA, don't know the password and it's not documented. Rodney Landrum provides a way out of this dilemma, demonstrating two techniques for temporarily changing the password, and then returning it to its previous unknown value.
Encryption: Not the End-All Fix for Data Privacy
Many state data-breach laws exempt encrypted data from PR-nightmare public-notice requirements, but don't let that fool you into thinking it's an easy answer to the data privacy challenge. Here's the lowdown on loopholes, caveats and options to consider when applying encryption.
SQL Agent - A Job Scheduler Framework
In this article, I'll show you how to create a generic scheduler that runs on a Windows Service. The scheduler will be able to accept pluggable actions that we can develop later implementing a custom interface.
Background
Blogs
Flyway Tips: AI Helps with Commit Messages
By Steve Jones
At Redgate, we’re experimenting with how AI can help developers and DBAs become better...
Startup scripts in SQL Server containers
I was messing around performing investigative work on a pod running SQL Server 2025...
Using SQL Compare with Redgate Data Modeler
By Steve Jones
Redgate recently released SQL Compare v16, which included a new feature to work with...
Forums
What is Page Density
Comments posted to this topic are about the item What is Page Density
T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: Fuzzy String Search II
Comments posted to this topic are about the item T-SQL in SQL Server 2025:...
Azure-SSIS, Self-Hosted Integration Runtime, & Data Gateway?
Looking to confirm my understanding of these three products and how they can be...
Question of the Day
What is Page Density
In SQL Server, there is a concept of page density. This is determined by how much data is stored on each page. What is a page density of 90%?
See possible answers