Review of SQLDiff by Lockwood
Chris was kind enough to take some time to put this product through it's paces and ends up giving it a very good rating. Read the article to see a nice graphical walkthrough of how to use the product.
Fixed Database Roles
This article covers four of the fixed database roles (db_datareader, db_datawriter, db_denydatareader, and db_denydatawriter). If you're new to SQL security (and maybe even if you're not) this article is worth reading.
Cluster That Index - Part 2
Chris does a follow up to his very popular article on clustered indexes. They seem simple, but in practice they are fairly complicated. Having a solid understanding of clustered indexes will definitely help you get the results you need.
xSQL Object Public Beta
xSQL Object for Microsoft SQL Server has been designed with the DataBase Administrator in mind. Scripting, Comparing and even Synchronizing different objects like tables, views, stored procedures etc. is fast and easy.
Auditing DTS Packages
In this follow up article, Haidong explains how to audit DTS packages. While parts of it are specific to DTS, the general technique has many useful applications.
SQL DMO Poster in PDF!
Last year we did a project with Lumigent to create a DMO poster. Part of the agreement allows us to now distribute the PDF version to our readers. It's about a 400k file, print size is 24x36. We hope you DMO users will find it useful.
White Board, Flip Chart, or Notepad?
Andy discusses the low tech tools he uses at the office to convey problems and describe solutions. He also provides some interesting links you will want to browse.
Database Workbench 2.3.1 released
Database Workbench is a powerfull developer tool that includes support for Microsoft SQL Server, version 7, 2000, MSDE 1 & 2. It let's you create schema objects from a convenient interface, transfer data or profile your database by displaying query plans or creating thousands of rows of test-data.
Worst Practice - Spaces in Object Names
We can only guess that someone somewhere put spaces in an object name that Andy works with and gave him the idea for this worst practice. Funny as the topic may sound, we agree - why make your lifer harder?
New Table Structure Compare Tool in Beta
Aladdin is an "alter table" script generation tool for SQL Server 7/2000.
Aladdin is currently in BETA. They are currently looking for for 25 people willing to use the beta product and report their experiences. Users who fully participate in the beta will get a free, single user license when the product is released. To participate in the Aladdin BETA program, please download the software and send an email to Ken Otto: ottosoft@hotmail.com - Subject: Aladdin Beta Test.
Blogs
Learn about Modern Microsoft Apps in San Diego
By Steve Jones
I wrote about learning today for the editorial: I Can’t Make You Learn. I...
How To Deploy Fabric SQL and Azure SQL Databases with Azure DevOps
By ReviewMyDB
Fabric has CI/CD built in, but if you've tried to use it for database...
A New Word: Attriage
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attriage – n. the state of having lost all control over how you feel...
Forums
SSRS Reminded Me of the Time Microsoft Retired TMG
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SSRS Reminded Me of the...
Getting results from a Procedure to join to a query
I have a need to execute a stored procedure and return the results to...
Upgrade 2016 Standard to 2022 Express
Title pretty much says it all - can this be done? I've tried several...
Question of the Day
BIT_COUNT II
In SQL Server 2025, I have a table (dbo.UserPermission) that contains this data:
UserID UserPermissions 15 23 37 4 NULLWhat is returned when I run this code:
select bit_count(UserPermissions) as PermissionCount from dbo.UserPermission where UserID = 4;See possible answers