Reading the SQL Server log files using TSQL
The SQL Server Error Log is quite large and it's not always easy to view the contents with the Log File Viewer. Greg Robidoux presents an easy way to search and find errors using T-SQL.
Why We Need Backups First
This week Steve Jones notes that backups aren't the most important thing for your data. Restores are.
An Introduction to In-Memory OLTP Database Objects
In-memory OLTP was introduced in SQL Server 2014, but greatly improved in SQL Server 2016. If you have a heavily-used transaction-processing that is processing a lot of data, it is definitely worth considering the new 'In-Memory' features of SQL Server 2016. Grant Fritchey explains why.
Indexing Foreign Keys
Foreign Keys are one of the fundamental characteristics of relational databases and enforce the referential integrity. Is it a good idea to index a FK relationship? When can it help?
Creating PowerShell Stacks and Expression Evaluators
To demonstrate that dynamic modules in PowerShell can be used to easily create objects with methods and properties, Phil Factor implements an expression analyser written in PowerShell, using a variation of Dijstra's Shunting Algorithm.
Data Science Education
Data Science is a hot area and one to which quite a few people would like to move. Steve Jones has some thoughts on trying to get certified in this area.
Using SQL Compare with Row Level Security
Row Level Security is one of many new features in SQL Server 2016. It provides a much easier, consistent, and maintainable solution for row-based security rules. In this blog post, Data Platform MVP Steve Jones introduces this new feature, and walks through how Redgate SQL Compare can safely and reliably handle RLS changes.
Stairway to U-SQL Level 8: Joining Tables in U-SQL
U-SQL provides a number of ways to join data sources together. This articles introduces the joins available and how you can use them.
Best Practices For Building Alerts for Using APIs with SQL Server
Tim Smith shares some ideas about how to handle and alert on irregular data coming from APIs when loading your database.
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