Writing Before Reading
We often learn to write code before we really learn to read it, which seems like a problem to Steve.
Install SQL Server from Configuration File with Installation Center
Learn how to build a SQL Server Configuration file from the Installation Center and then use this configuration file for subsequent installations.
SQL Server 2019 in Containers
SQL Server 2019 in containers are a fast way to get started with SQL Server 2019, and can be used throughout your data estate from development to production.
Investing in Speed
Much of what we do to improve ourselves is an investment in our work. The same thing could be said about businesses. Today a little advice about making an investment.
The Products-Often-Purchased-Together Problem Solved in R
Learn how to analysis products that might be sold together using R and SQL Server.
Run SQL Server Agent Job from SSIS
While we can schedule SQL Server Agent jobs and SSRS report subscriptions, the actual time that we want to run them is dependent on when certain processing in our SSIS packages is completed. We also have certain business rules surrounding launching these jobs that we need to enforce which the built-in scheduling capabilities cannot accommodate. For example, we execute a SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) report subscription every Monday at 8:00AM but we want to skip it if the current week coincides with our month end processing which will also execute a report subscription for the same report. Can you provide a solution that we can use to accomplish this?
Six reasons to version control your database
For most application developers, it’s unthinkable to work without version control. So why is the database any different? This blog lays out 6 clear benefits to applying version control best practice to your database alongside your application.
Blogs
SQL Saturday Boston Slides and Code
By Steve Jones
Thanks to everyone who attended my sessions today at SQL Saturday Boston 2025. I’ve...
Scaling SQL Server 2025 Vector Search with Load-Balanced Ollama Embeddings
SQL Server 2025 introduces native support for vector data types and external AI models....
Advice I Like: Fear and Imagination
By Steve Jones
Fear is fueled by a lack of imagination. The antidote to fear is not...
Forums
How to use data pre-computed in previous ETL SSIS Nodes?
I'm building ETL packages in SSIS. My data comes from an OLE DB Source...
Building AI Governance and Policies- First Steps
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Building AI Governance and Policies-...
Simple delete causes table scan on other tables with foreign key
Why is sql doing a full scan VS seeking on the index? I've included...
Question of the Day
Checking Identities
The DBCC CHECKIDENT command is used when working with identity values. I have a table with 10 rows in it that looks like this:
TravelLogID CityID StartDate EndDate 1 1 2025-01-11 2025-01-16 2 2 2025-01-11 2025-01-16 3 3 2025-01-11 2025-01-16 4 4 2025-01-11 2025-01-16 5 5 2025-01-11 2025-01-16 6 6 2025-01-11 2025-01-16 7 7 2025-01-11 2025-01-16 8 8 2025-01-11 2025-01-16 9 9 2025-01-11 2025-01-16 10 10 2025-01-11 2025-01-16The docs for DBCC CHECKIDENT say this if I run with only the table parameter: "If the current identity value for a table is less than the maximum identity value stored in the identity column, it is reset using the maximum value in the identity column. " I run this code:
DELETE dbo.TravelLog WHERE TravelLogID >= 9
GO
DBCC CHECKIDENT(TravelLog, RESEED)
GO
INSERT dbo.TravelLog
(
CityID,
StartDate,
EndDate
)
VALUES
(4, '2025-09-14', '2025-09-17')
GO
What is the identity value for the new row inserted by the insert statement above? See possible answers