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Database Geek of the Week - Scott Forsyth

After interviewing a number of database geeks, it struck me that many of them focus on one area of database development. Hilary Cotter specializes in replication, for example, while Itzik Ben-Gan focuses on Transact-SQL (see http://www.simple-talk.com/categories/sql-articles). Scott Forsyth is no different, but his area of expertise is more unusual: web hosting using .NET technology.

SQLServerCentral Article

Arriving at Database Growth Factor in SQL Server 2000

It is highly recommended that you not rely on system tables in your application as the values and meanings many change between versions. But for an experienced person that digs into the system often and needs quick answers, these system tables may be a great source of information. Suresh Maganti brings us his recent adventure in finding a reliable way to determine the growth factor of a database.

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DTS Polling

Lots of packages exist that will import data files for you, even if you do not know the file name ahead of time. But most of them expect the files to be there. New author Andre Quitta brings us a technique he has for checking to see if the files are even there before importing them.

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Secrets of successful IT projects

Some time ago, I worked on a team that was attempting to define an IT strategy for a large multinational company. Management incorrectly thought the company was unique in that it had a high number of failed IT projects. In fact, only one in four IT projects can be termed successful, if the benchmarks of success are adherence to scheduled completion time and budget, and realization of the project goal, whether that be saving money, growing the business, or what have you. I have to explain this because many of you may never have come across one.

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Where Your Value Separates You from Others

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Fixing the Error

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T-SQL in SQL Server 2025: Encoding Functions

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Question of the Day

Fixing the Error

On SQL Server 2025, I have a database that has this collation: SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS. I decide I want to run this code:

SELECT UNISTR('*3041*308A*304C*3068 and good night', '*') AS 'A Classic';
I get this error:Msg 9844, Level 16, State 4, Line 24 The char/varchar input type uses an unsupported collation. Only a UTF8 collation is supported with char/varchar input type in UNISTR function.What is the easiest way to fix this error?

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