The Sequel to SQL
Phil Factor tacks a few new buzzwords onto his CV and looks forward to joining the new wave of "digital innovators".
The 2019 Home Lab
Steve wants to know what's in your current home lab. Leave a note and help others learn to set one up.
Track Sensitive Data with SQL Server Extended Properties
A major priority in our industry today is protecting and tracking sensitive data. See how you can utilize SQL Server Extended Properties to do just that.
Find out exactly what SQL Monitor can save you
Redgate’s SQL Monitor was named the most popular third-party monitoring tool in this year's State of SQL Server Monitoring Report. Find out exactly what SQL Monitor can save you and your company with the ROI calculator.
Power BI Bubble Map, Shape Map and Filled Map Examples
In this tip we look various map visualizations like Bubble, Shape and Filled Map visualizations you can use with Power BI.
Some T-SQL INSERTs DO Follow the Fill Factor! (SQL Oolie)
With origins from the world of “Submarine ‘Dolphin’ Qualification” questions, an “Oolie” is a difficult question to answer, or the knowledge or fact needed to answer such a question, that may or may not pertain to one's duties but tests one's knowledge of a system or process to the limit. Introduction Contrary to what many […]
Timing is Everything
A phishing attack is directed at engineers, but it could easily be pointed at IT pros.
PolyBase in SQL Server 2019 – The End of ETL?
PolyBase has been around since 2016, but Microsoft is enhancing it in 2019 with the ability to connect to more data sources. You can now use PolyBase to connect to other SQL Server instances, and it’s easy to set up with a wizard. In this article Benjamin Weissman explains what’s new in PolyBase and walks you through setting it up and connecting to an external table.
Problems Caused by Use of the SQL_VARIANT Datatype
Phil Factor illustrates the 'quirks' of the SQL_VARIANT datatype and why it's best to investigate when SQL Prompt alerts you to its use. It is only safe to store data as a SQL_VARIANT, if you explicitly convert it to its true type before you use it.
Blogs
AI Helps Me with My Sloppiness
By Steve Jones
I type fairly well. Well, I type fast, but I do wear out a...
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...
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