SQL Server Magazine

Nifty Ways to Use FOR XML PATH Concatenation

No temporary tables or table variables are needed to perform FOR XML PATH concatenation, so the resulting query is not only fast but also high performing.

Letters to the Editor

Idera writes in about SQL Server Magazine's April 2008 backup compression product review.

Adventures with Big Data: How to Import 16 Billion Rows into a Single Table

If you have a lot of data to import into or export out of a SQL Server table, here are some tips that can save you a lot of time and aggravation.

Letters to the Editor

The redesign of SQL Server Magazine is getting mixed reviews.

T-SQL Function Finds Almost Any Kind of Date

This user-defined function is flexible and easy to maintain because it uses a matrix and simple math to locate the date you need.

Strim Strips Out Non-Alphanumeric Characters

Although SQL Server offers a variety of string functions, it doesn't have a function that strips out non-alphanumeric characters. Here's a user-defined function to fill that gap.

Tracking for Your SQL Server Agent Jobs

It used to be difficult to answer questions such as "When was the last time this job was run?" and "What jobs will be affected if we bring down the system for maintenance?" With the cspJobMonitor procedure that's no longer the case.

Enforce Uniqueness Without the Unique Constraint

If you've ever come across the problem of hitting the 900-bytes limitation for unique constraints, you'll want to check out this simple solution.

Script Inventories Remote Computers and Writes the Information to a Database

If you often need inventory information about the remote computers you manage, check out Computer_Inventory.vbs. With this script, all you need to do is create an input file, run the script, then query the database that the script creates.

Export AD Data into Access So Users Can Run Their Own AD Reports

With this reporting tool, users are happy because they can obtain custom AD reports and administrators are happy because they have more time to tend to other tasks.

Row-Concatenation Solutions Aren't All Equal

A reader's tests reveal that although various row-concatenation solutions produce the same results, the time it takes to get those results can vary significantly.

Keep Track of Your Backups

The procedure cspBackupListing can list your databases’ most current backups, back up databases with previous backups older than 24 hours, or list all the backups for a database.

Display Dates in the Format You Need

If you often need to display the current date in different formats, you know that it can take a lot of code and effort. The FormatDate function changes that. By providing just two parameters, you can display any date in the format you need.

Letters to the Editor

Reset Identity Values

Use a stored T-SQL procedure called ResetIdentities.sql to globally reset all identity values in a database to their initial seed value.

How to Recycle a Virtual SQL Server 2005 Machine

This reader’s remote client needed a new virtual SQL Server 2005 machine within 24 hours to test a project release update. Learn how he added this server from 200 miles away.

Have SQL Server Email You Error Messages Generated by Job Failures

When a SQL Server job fails, SQL Server Agent sends a notification but it doesn't include the error message generated by that job failure. Here's how you can have the error message emailed to you.

A Clever Way to Connect to a Hidden Named Instance

If you're having trouble connecting to a hidden SQL Server named instance, try adapting the connection string. Here's how.

Queries Dragging? Try Defragging

If your queries against a table or database are running slow, the indexes in that table might be fragmented. The cspDefragIndexes stored procedure can quickly and easily take care of the problem.

BINARY_CHECKSUM Query Better for Big Table Samplings

Selecting a random sampling of rows from a large table in SQL Server 2000 used to take a long time and use a lot of disk I/O. The BINARY_CHECKSUM query changes all that.