The Hidden Patterns in Data
Looking at statistics and data to draw conclusions can be hard. Steve Jones comments on an interesting way of analyzing data from TED.
Converting and Using Text Dates as SQL Server Dates
This tip describes some T-SQL techniques for converting a mmddyyyy string to a SQL Server date, handling rows with missing date strings, and comparing converted date strings.
Using the T-SQL PERCENTILE Analytic Functions in SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008
Percentiles give meaning to measurements by telling you the percentage of the population being measured who get higher or lower values. They are now easier to calculate in SQL, and are useful for reporting; but are the new analytic functions faster and more efficient than the older methods? Dwain Camps demonstrates, and investigates their relative performance.
Hack Us
A challenge from United intrigues Steve Jones. How many other companies would make a challenge like this?
Storing a Binary File in a Database
In this article you will see how to convert a file to a binary stream and insert it into SQL Server with SQLCLR.
SQL Monitor Custom metric: Average I/O stalls
This is a good general indicator of performance problems. High stall times indicate I/O problems, which can be attributed to busy physical disks or queries that return large data sets to the client.
Webinar: How to safely manage application and database changes with continuous delivery
Join Brian A. Randell, Grant Fritchey and Steve Jones in this panel discussion to hear tips, ideas and share your questions on managing application and database deployments with continuous delivery. This Free webinar will be on May 27th at 4PM BST, register while space is available.
The Cascading (CROSS) APPLY
An old trick nowadays but one which is still underused here on SSC is the cascading CROSS APPLY – where output from one CROSS APPLY is used as input for another.
Blogs
Claude AI Convinced Me Not to Build an iPad App
By Steve Jones
I coach volleyball and I do a lot of stat stuff on paper. I...
A New Word: Dolorblindness
By Steve Jones
dolorblindness – n. the frustration that you’ll never be able to understand another person’s...
Claude Code Helps Analyze Test Data Manager Log Files
By Steve Jones
I had a customer ask about analyzing their Test Data Manager (TDM) usage to...
Forums
Data Warehouse Toolkit meets Star Schema: The Complete Reference
Is there a good syllabus for reading these two together? (Yes, it's called the...
GPX distance and time analysis in SQL Server
Comments posted to this topic are about the item GPX distance and time analysis...
The DBA is Dead; Long Live the DBA
Comments posted to this topic are about the item The DBA is Dead; Long...
Question of the Day
Changing the AG Listener
In SQL Server 2025, if I want to remove an IP from a listener, what do I do?
See possible answers