Aggregate Data for the Last Day of the Month
On some occasions you will need to aggregate Data for the Last Day of the Month. This article explains how.
SQL Server and Undocumented Extended Procedures
Smart DBAs automate tasks whenever possible. In this article, Greg Moore shows the need to use caution when using undocumented procedures for automating tasks, and that PowerShell may have what you need instead.
Check Your Backup Compliance Against a Data Management Provider
As a database administrator, it's your responsibility to ensure the customer data won't get lost in case of a disaster, so you either provide your own backup strategy, use a third-party script, or hire a data management provider. With the first two options, you have full control over your environment so you can know exactly […]
Next Person Up
Steve wonders today about the need to compete in our jobs, especially with employers that view us as resources.
How to Track Performance of Queries That Use RECOMPILE Hints
Say we have a stored procedure that has two queries in it, the first query will always get the same plan, but the second query will get different plans and return different numbers of rows depending on which reputation we pass in.
Cursors Without Performance Penalties
Imagine how coding might take place if cursors were as efficient as complex SELECT statements.
SQL v.Next Gets Native Python in SQL Server
The next version of SQL Server is in early preview and there is a new feature that is going to be very useful for large enterprises that want to run Big Data Clusters and perform additional data science tasks. Instead of embedding Python code in a string and submitting it to the Launchpad engine, we […]
“Working” From Home? Watch A Bunch of Free SQL Server Videos on YouTube.
You’re new at this working from home thing, and you’re trying to put Game of Thrones up on a second monitor while you work? Listen, that’s not gonna play out well. You’re gonna get distracted and you’re not gonna get any work done. Instead, if you’re gonna have something in the background, learn about SQL Server.
Never Create Columns with ANSI_PADDING set to OFF
There is no good reason for having ANSI_PADDING set to OFF when you create tables in SQL Server. It was provided purely for legacy databases that had code that assumed the old CHAR behavior for dealing with padding, and its use has now been deprecated.
Graphical analysis of SSRS report usage with Grafana
Learn how Grafana can help you quickly set up dashboards to analyze the usage data of your SSRS reports.
Blogs
Automatic Index Compaction
By ReviewMyDB
Index maintenance has always meant nightly jobs and a window you have to defend....
The Goldilocks problem – Materialized Views
I’m sure you’ve all heard the tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but...
Monday Monitor Tips: Virtual Machine Usage and Cost
By Steve Jones
One of the things I’ve been requesting for a number of years is cost...
Forums
SQL Art, Part 4: Happy 4th of July — A British DBA's Guide to Celebrating a War We Don't Talk About
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art, Part 4: Happy...
How We Handled a Vendor Retry That Loaded Twice in Snowflake
Comments posted to this topic are about the item How We Handled a Vendor...
Cognitive Coverage
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Cognitive Coverage
Question of the Day
Getting the Average
I have this data in the dbo.Commission table in a SQL Server 2022 database.
salesperson commission Brian 12 Brian 16 Andy 7 Andy 14 Andy 21 Steve 20 Steve NULLAll the data is a varchar, and I decide to run this query to get the totals for each salesperson.
SELECT SalesPerson
, AVG(TRY_PARSE(Commission AS int)) AS TotalCommission
FROM commission
GROUP BY SalesPerson
GO
What average commission is calculated for Steve? See possible answers