Troublesome Names
Building a name-and-address database sounds a disarmingly simple task, but if your name happens to be D'Arcy Join, then you probably know, from painful experience, that most programmers don't get it right.
Non-Standard Delimiters for Columns and Rows Using SQL Server Bulk Insert
In this tip, Tim Smith looks at how to use bulk insert to load data into SQL Server when the column and row terminators are not what you typically see.
The DBA's Essential Index Monitoring and Maintenance Tasks
Indexes can be the most critical part of any database. they can drastically improve performance or they can ruin it. Wise management is the key to success.
Introduction to the Biml Language
Biml or Business Intelligence Markup Language is an open-source XML dialect to generate Integration Services (SSIS) packages. Take a look at this Biml tutorial to learn how you can use Biml to generate SSIS packages.
TDE with Automatic Database Seeding
Transparent Data Encryption on an Availability Group and Automatic Database Seeding
Azure Cosmos DB Partitioning
One of the most important design decisions that must be made when planning deployment of Azure Cosmos DB involves logical partitioning of data that will populate target collections, graphs, or tables. Selecting the optimal partitioning model has both performance and pricing implications. In this article, we will explore the rationale behind these implications and review the partitioning options.
Stairway to U-SQL Level 19: Azure Data Lake Metadata with PowerShell
Need to inspect your Data Lake objects and files? Want to automate the process? Find out how with PowerShell.
Blogs
Identity Columns Can’t Be Updated: #SQLNewBlogger
By Steve Jones
I’m not sure I knew identity column values could not be updated. I ran...
Rolling Back a Broken Release
By Steve Jones
We had an interesting discussion about deployments in databases and how you go forward...
A bespoke reporting solution doesn’t have to cost the earth
By ChrisJenkins
You could be tolerating limited reporting because there isn’t an off the shelf solution...
Forums
Can someone please explain what happens?
I have mentioned this several times over several years. Can someone please help me...
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT) returns null when nothing is found instead of 0
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Component) AS Found FROM tblComponents WHERE(Component NOT LIKE '%[a-z]%') AND(LTRIM(RTRIM(Component)) = 'GM13622')...
Remotely Engineer Fabric Lakehouse objects: The Fabric Modern Data Platform
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Remotely Engineer Fabric Lakehouse objects:...
Question of the Day
Creating JSON III
In a SQL Server 2025 table, called Beer, I have this data:
BeerIDBeerName 1Becks 2Fat Tire 3Mac n Jacks 4Alaskan Amber 8KirinI run this code:
SELECT JSON_OBJECTAGG(
BeerID: BeerName )
FROM beer;
What are the results? See possible answers