Technical Article

An Overview of SQL Server 2005 for the Database Developer

With the release of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Beta 2, the world of database development is changing. As a database developer, you now have the option to appropriately locate your code in relation to its functionality, to access data in native formats such as XML, and to build complex systems that are driven by the power of the database server. Database development is becoming more integrated than ever before, and all of the tools that you need are available right at your fingertips.

SQLServerCentral Article

Identifying Blocking Locks

Blocks in SQL Server can cause untold amounts of pain and headache, mostly because they are so transient and often when you go to look for them, they have been released on whatever object you are researching. Author Eli Leiba has writeen a short piece on how you can automate the search for blocking locks and help you as a DBA be proactive in identifying them.

SQLServerCentral Article

Manipulating And Using DateTime Data

Working with date and time data in SQL Server can be a bit cumersome using just T-SQL. With the separate datatypes being pulled from SQL Server 2005 for the time being, however, it is something that a DBA needs to get used to. Robert Marda brings us an instructional look at the different datetime data types and some things you should be aware of when developing with them.

SQLServerCentral Article

Controlling SQL Server Settings

Change control in SQL Server isn't the strong point of the product. And change control of server based settings is something that you might not worry about, but which can easily cause you hours of troubleshooting time. Author Andre Vigneau deploys software to other companies and has developed a solution to deal with this problem. Read on and get some code that can help you prevent or at least fix any changes to SQL Server sp_configure parameters.

Technical Article

Work with XML Data Type in SQL Server 2005 from ADO.NET 2.0

One of the excellent features of the next release of SQL Server, known as SQL Server 2005, is its deep XML integration with the SQL Server database engine. This integration goes well beyond the simple relational-to-XML mapping layer that SQL Server 2000 provided. SQL Server 2005 will feature a native XML data type that will allow you to store native XML data in SQL Server itself.

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Question of the Day

An Unusual Identity

What values are returned when I run this code? 

CREATE TABLE dbo.IdentityTest2
(
     id NUMERIC(10,0) IDENTITY(10,10) PRIMARY KEY,
     somevalue VARCHAR(20)
)
GO
INSERT dbo.IdentityTest2
(
    somevalue
)
VALUES
( 'Steve')
, ('Bill')
GO
SELECT top 10
 id
 FROM dbo.IdentityTest2

See possible answers