Which Problem Are You Solving?
This week Steve Jones talks a bit about problem solving and how you should approach the issue.
Discrete and Continuous Data in SQL
Not all data is discrete; some data types represent a continuum. In SQL, we have to approximate them and live with the special problems of handling continuous data. We need to understand the problems associated with continuous data types, when these will happen, and how it affects constraints and the results of queries. Joe Celko explains.
Going to Extremes to Release Bug Fixes and New Features
Extreme Programming (XP) is no general panacea; but for the right team, and for a product that needs to release bug fixes and new features as fast as possible, its benefits are obvious. Working on one of Red Gate's most popular tools, SQL Prompt, Aaron Law and David Priddle use XP. But is their adherence to XP a personal preference or does it bring real benefits?
Webinar: Oracle Exadata & In-Memory Real-World Performance
On January 28th 3PM GMT, Randolf Geist will present a free, one-hour webinar analyzing different database query profiles based on a real-world customer case. He'll also look at how these different profiles influence the efficiency of Exadata's features and the new Oracle In-Memory column store option. Register now.
Getting IT Out of the Data Center
Technology shouldn't just be a cost sink in an organization, at least that's what Steve Jones thinks.
Tracking Database DDL Changes with SQLVer
Presents an open-source T-SQL based version tracking system for MSSQL
Azure SQL Database Auditing
While a diminished level of control is certainly a factor to consider when contemplating migration of on-premises systems to Microsoft Azure, especially when dealing with PaaS resources such as Azure SQL Database, you have a range of techniques at your disposal that allow you to control and monitor both the status of and access to your Azure-resident services. One of these techniques is SQL Database auditing.
SQL Monitor Custom Metric: Percentage of Fragmented Indexes
This is a general indicator of performance problems. Index fragmentation can affect the rate of return for moderate to large tables. If this value indicates an increased amount of index fragmentation throughout your database, you may need to fine-tune your indexes by redesigning, or rebuilding more frequently.
Blogs
The SUM of Nothing: #SQLNewBlogger
By Steve Jones
I caught this interesting item over on Pinal Dave’s blog: Eleven Interview Questions that...
How to Move the SSMS Status Bar to the Top and Color-Code SQL Server Connections
By Hemantgiri
I use color-coded connections in SSMS to distinguish Production, Pre-Production, UAT, and Development. But...
Architecting Zero Downtime Deployments–Day of Data Boston
By Steve Jones
Here are the resources for my talk at Day of Data Boston. Slides –...
Forums
Split Large Queries in Athena with a Simple Modulo Trick
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Split Large Queries in Athena...
Finding Trailing Spaces
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Finding Trailing Spaces
Question of the Day
Finding Trailing Spaces
I have some data in a SQL Server 2025 database. It looks like this for the dbo.Customer table:
CustomerID CustomerName PreferredName 1 Steve Steve 2 Andy Andy 3 Brian Brian 4 Allan Allan 5 Devin Devin 6 Steve Steve 7 Sally SallyI want to detect which names have a single trailing space. The CustomerName is a varchar() and the PreferredName is a CHAR(). Does this query detect the problem rows?
SELECT
CustomerID,
CustomerName,
PreferredName
FROM Customer
WHERE CustomerName <> RTRIM(CustomerName)
OR PreferredName <> RTRIM(PreferredName); See possible answers