Where Do I Want To Go Today? - Real Time Defragging
Where should SQL Server go in the future? What enhancements are needed? Steve Jones continues to explore his wish list for future versions of SQL Server.
Log Navigator Final Beta Released
The final beta of Log Navigator has been released. This sql server auditing tool reads the MS SQL Server transaction log to track all data changes with no performance overhead or use of triggers. You can read database auditing trails from activity that took place even before the tool was installed. Powerful filters allow you to sort audit data by date, user, table and more. New features include LIVE LOG support and XML export. (Not Reviewed)
Altering Replicated Tables (SQL 2000)
Changing a replicated table in SQL 7 was a lot of work. SQL 2000 offers some help, but in many cases it's not enough. This article by Andy Warren shows you which changes SQL 2000 will help you with and which ones it won't.
AutoCode - Beta Release of SQL Editor
The authors of the application are offering a 30% discount off of the release price to those that participate in the beta cycle. Feature list includes autocomplete, db comparison and reconciling, and point/click constraint generation. (Not reviewed)
Using Built in Functions in User Defined Functions
This short article shows an interesting technique for using the SQL built in functions inside a user defined function (UDF).
Review of Murachs SQL for SQL Server
Andy rates this one 4.5 out of 5 stars and likes it enough to recommend it's use at work. This is a book that should teach a developer how to use the key abilities of SQL. If you're looking for a book to guide your beginning/intermediate developers, this might be it.
What Your SP Can Return
Return values from stored procedures (not output params, true return values) probably aren't used as often as they should be. Robert gives you some good examples of how to use them.
DBMS vs File Management System
This is a high level article that compares the use of a DBMS with file management systems. Interesting to think about products that use the file system successfully - not everything needs SQL...or does it?
Worst Practice - Bad Connection Strings and Bad Info in Sysprocesses
Andy returns to the Worst Practice series this week with a short article looking at how connection strings in applications affect what you see in sysprocesses. Perhaps less controversial (in our opinion) that some of the other worst practices, this is something easy to fix and definitely worth fixing! Read the article and post a comment - explore other points of view! Readers posting a comment will be entered in a drawing for a copy of the SQL Server 2000 Resource Kit.
SQLCentric
This is an update to v1.2 of the product which does monitoring of your SQL servers. Looks like it checks service status, jobs, disk space, some other things. (Not Reviewed)
Blogs
Self-Hosting a Photo Server the Whole Family Can Use
By Bert Wagner
Until recently, my family's 90,000+ photos have been hidden away in the depths of...
Start with the FabricTools PowerShell module
By Kamil
Managing Microsoft Fabric at scale quickly becomes painful if you rely only on the...
Enterprise AI Operating Rhythm – Top 5 practices for 2026
2025 exposed a growing gap between AI ambition and operational reality. As budgets tightened...
Forums
UNISTR Escape
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Celebrating Tomorrow
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SQL Art: I Made a Christmas Card In SSMS
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art: I Made a...
Question of the Day
UNISTR Escape
In SQL Server 2025, I run this command:
SELECT UNISTR('*3041*308A*304C\3068 and good night', '*') as "A Classic";
What is returned? (assume the database has an appropriate collation)
A: 
B: 
C: 
See possible answers