Check our collection of high-quality articles on a variety of SQL Server topics. The collection is being regularly updated with new articles.
In this article, we will be discussing about the OUTPUT clause in SQL Server, and how we can use it for creating data archiving mechanisms. What is the OUTPUT Clause in SQL Server? The OUTPUT Clause in T-SQL as described in the relevant MS Docs article, “returns information from, or expressions based on, each … Read more…
One of the many privileges of being a Friend of Red Gate, is that you have the chance to evaluate the company’s products and provide feedback and suggestions. In this post, I provide my review for one of Red Gate’s latest tools; SQL Object Level Recovery Native. What Does SQL Object Level Recovery Native … Read more…
On September 19, 2009, I delivered a session with topic the Microsoft Sync Framework, during the Mysore SQL Server Community Series. The exact topic was: “Flexible data synchronization with Microsoft Sync Framework”. Further below I provide a short review for my session and I also provide the PowerPoint presentation along with the source code (C#) … Read more…
Hi friends, in this article, we will be discussing about computed columns in SQL Server and see some relevant T-SQL examples. What are Computed and Persisted Columns in SQL Server? When it comes to database design in SQL Server, it is always recommended to create the database as flexible as possible. SQL Server provides … Read more…
This article, discusses the usage of the “GO” command in SQL Server. But before proceeding with explaining GO, it is first necessary to understand what a “Batch” is. What is a “Batch” in SQL Server? As described in MSDN BOL, a Batch is a group of one or more Transact-SQL statements sent at the … Read more…
Along with the new data types DATE, TIME and DATETIME2 in SQL Server 2008, new and enhanced functions are also included. New Date Functions Added in SQL Server 2008 and Later The new data functions originally added in SQL Server 2008 are : SYSDATETIME SYSUTCDATETIME SYSDATETIMEOFFSET SWITCHOFFSET TODATETIMEOFFSET A more thorough explanation follows: SYSDATETIME This … Read more…
A really neat undocumented SQL Server stored procedure is sp_MSforeachdb. This stored procedure takes as parameters SQL commands which are then executed against all databases on the current SQL Server instance. Simple Example of sp_MSforeachdb in SQL Server A simple example (“Hello World”-style 🙂 is the following which lists all the databases in the … Read more…
Welcome to my first screencast dedicate to SQL Server 2008 Programmability! This screencast features the ADO .NET Entity Framework; a new feature of Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 providing the developer with fast, robust and scalable data access. SQL Server 2008 fully supports the ADO .NET Entity Framework, allowing developers to effortlessly create entity data models … Read more…
We all know the saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Well, what about a video? A screencast maybe? 🙂 Today I am initiating a series of screencasts dedicated to SQL Server Development and Administration – mainly for SQL Server 2008. Blogging is great of course and I will sure continue doing it as … Read more…
Is it possible to install 32-bit SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services on a 64-bit Computer/Windows OS while keeping the 64-bit version of the rest of SQL Server features? The answer is yes! The Scenario about Installing 32-bit SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services on a 64-bit machine/Windows OS Well, here’s the story: I recently installed … Read more…
DBAs and Database Developers always need to test new database-related work before migrating it to Production Environments. To this end, Test/Development Environments are usually set up in order to allow for testing new administration and programmability features of DBMSs (in our case SQL Server 🙂 Though, by only having such an environment set up is … Read more…
In this article, we will be discussing about index fragmentation in SQL Server and how you can manage it. SQL Server automatically maintains indexes whenever insert, delete, or update operations are performed on the underlying data. 1. The Two Types of Index Fragmentation in SQL Server Though, in the cases where the underlying data … Read more…
There is many times where we might want to explicitly control the connections to an instance of SQL Server and more specifically to a database. Such scenarios might include: A restore procedure of a backup set which cannot complete as there are still active connections to the specific database. You need to drop a database … Read more…
Today I have received a congratulation email from Microsoft announcing that I have been presented with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for SQL Server! I am very happy about this award and I really feel honored. ——————————————————————————— Dear Artemakis Artemiou, Congratulations! We are pleased to present you with the 2009 Microsoft® MVP Award! … Read more…
About the Error Message: “Exclusive access could not be obtained because the database is in use” A very neat feature of SQL Server is the way it lets the DBA to control connections. To this end, you can explicitly control connections with specific commands and methods. Even though this is not usually needed, there are … Read more…