SQL Server XML Cribsheet
If you're like me and find XML a bit of an acronym minefield, Robyn Page's Cribsheet will help sort out your XSLT from your XDM.
SQL Server Everywhere: Just Another Database?
With the release of SQL Server Everywhere Edition looming, Scott sits down with Mark Jewett and Steve Lasker to find out about Microsoft's new database engine.
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SQL Server 2005 Books
There have been a huge number of SQL Server 2005 books released in the last year, but which ones are worth buying? Here are reviews
of three new books from one of the SQL Server gurus.
Creating cross tab queries and pivot tables in SQL
For those times when you absolutely, positively got to perform a cross tab query in SQL, Keith Fletcher's T-SQL stored procedure will allow you to do it "on the fly". You can add it to your database and start cross tabbing immediately, without any further setup or changes to you SQL code. Check it out, and then take the cross tab challenge.
Sic Semper NULL
The great debate over NULLs will probably never end. Should we use them in our databases? What meaning do they have? These are all
valid questions. In this article SQL Server expert Michael Coles takes a look at the problems that are inherent in eliminating NULLs completely from
a database.
The NEWSEQUENTIALID Function
The NEWSEQUENTIALID system function is an addition to SQL Server 2005. It seeks to bring together, what used to be, conflicting requirements in SQL Server 2000; namely identity-level insert performance and globally unique values.
Take an Exam, get TechNet
If you are thinking of taking a SQL Server 2005 MCP exam, now is the time to do it. And with exam insurance, you can get two chances to pass and a free year of Technet!
Using Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS)
SQL Server 2005 has so many new features that in my opinion if you read only BOL for a year you'd find something new every day. One of those is Multiple Active Result Sets or MARS. Multiple Active Result Sets is a new SQL Server 2005 feature that, putting it simply, allows the user to run more than one SQL batch on an open connection at the same time.
Twiddling the knobs: The Default Backup directory
What's the best way to change the default backup directory for a server, using SSMS or Enterprise Manager, without changing all the default directories at the same time? What is the TSQL to do it? A prize for the best correct solution.
Blogs
Advice I Like: Rewards from Work
By Steve Jones
The greatest rewards come from working on something that nobody has words for. If...
Overcoming Challenges: Navigating Common Pitfalls in FinOps Adoption
By HeyMo0sh
Working in DevOps, I’ve seen FinOps do amazing things for cloud cost control, but...
Why your data still can’t answer a simple question
Every organization I talk to has the same problem dressed up in different clothes....
Forums
The day-to-day pressures of a DBA team, and how we can work smarter with automation and AI
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The day-to-day pressures of a...
Creating a Simple and Flexible Random Password Generator in SQL Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Creating a Simple and Flexible...
SQL Art, Part 3: Happy Easter Fun in SSMS
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art, Part 3: Happy...
Question of the Day
Identities and Sequences IV
When thinking about the identity property and sequence objects, which of these can be used with numeric and decimal data types?
See possible answers