How to Stop a SSIS Package Execution from Code
In this tip we look at a way to stop the execution of a SSIS data flow task that is running by executing an outside process to stop the data flow immediately.
Managing Data Masking Rules in Larger Teams using Source Control
What if you have several people in the team who are responsible for data security across your databases, and they need to work together to develop and maintain the data masking configurations, which must then be applied consistently as part of an automated provisioning process? How should they do it? The solution turns out to be simple: source control.
The Ongoing Costs of Building Software
There are lots of costs to building your own software, which Steve Jones notes might not be what you want to spend over time.
Create, Alter, Drop and Execute SQL Server Stored Procedures
In this tip we look at some examples of how to get started with creating, modifying and deleting SQL Server stored procedures.
Why you Should Avoid Using the @@IDENTITY Function
Phil Factor demonstrates why SQL Prompt has a 'Best Practice' rule (BP010) that checks for use of the @@IDENTITY function, and suggests less error-prone ways to get the latest identity values used in a table.
20 Years of Compare
When we started SQLServerCentral, there were originally 7 of us. We all decided to "invest" $50 to get the site going. With this seed money, we paid for a VM that hosted both SQL Server and IIS. This was enough money to run the site for 6+ months, and we set about building an online […]
Database Build Blockers: Mutually Dependent Databases
Phil Factor demonstrates a clever way to create 's...
Hiding What You Shouldn’t See
In this week's SImple Talk editorial Kathi Kellenberger looks at data that should be hidden and how to get security right within your organization.
Enter data privacy. Exit SQL Server 2008.
SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 are out of extended support as of July 2019, but the end of bug fixes, security updates and ongoing support has far-reaching data privacy implications, as James Boother from Microsoft Gold Partner, Coeo, explains
Blogs
Programmatic Tool Calling with the Claude SDK
Programmatic Tool Calling with the Claude SDK Every morning somebody on the team runs the...
A New Word: Mauerbauertraurigkeit
By Steve Jones
mauerbauertraurigkeit – n. inexplicable urge to push people away, even close friends whose company...
Methodology for dealing with bad data in production
By Brian Kelley
Pinal Dave wrote up his methodology for what to do when you discover bad...
Forums
Why SQL Server Database Attach fails and how to repair it
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Why SQL Server Database Attach...
Fixing P1 Queries
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Fixing P1 Queries
Question of the Day
BIT_COUNT() IV
In SQL Server 2025, I run this code:
select bit_count('A')
What is returned? See possible answers