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  • Pragmas and exceptions

    - by Darryl Gove
    The compiler pragmas: #pragma no_side_effect(routinename) #pragma does_not_write_global_data(routinename) #pragma does_not_read_global_data(routinename) are used to tell the compiler more about the routine being called, and enable it to do a better job of optimising around the routine. If a routine does not read global data, then global data does not need to be stored to memory before the call to the routine. If the routine does not write global data, then global data does not need to be reloaded after the call. The no side effect directive indicates that the routine does no I/O, does not read or write global data, and the result only depends on the input. However, these pragmas should not be used on routines that throw exceptions. The following example indicates the problem: #include <iostream extern "C" { int exceptional(int); #pragma no_side_effect(exceptional) } int exceptional(int a) { if (a==7) { throw 7; } else { return a+1; } } int a; int c=0; class myclass { public: int routine(); }; int myclass::routine() { for(a=0; a<1000; a++) { c=exceptional(c); } return 0; } int main() { myclass f; try { f.routine(); } catch(...) { std::cout << "Something happened" << a << c << std::endl; } } The routine "exceptional" is declared as having no side effects, however it can throw an exception. The no side effects directive enables the compiler to avoid storing global data back to memory, and retrieving it after the function call, so the loop containing the call to exceptional is quite tight: $ CC -O -S test.cpp ... .L77000061: /* 0x0014 38 */ call exceptional ! params = %o0 ! Result = %o0 /* 0x0018 36 */ add %i1,1,%i1 /* 0x001c */ cmp %i1,999 /* 0x0020 */ ble,pt %icc,.L77000061 /* 0x0024 */ nop However, when the program is run the result is incorrect: $ CC -O t.cpp $ ./a.out Something happend00 If the code had worked correctly, the output would have been "Something happened77" - the exception occurs on the seventh iteration. Yet, the current code produces a message that uses the original values for the variables 'a' and 'c'. The problem is that the exception handler reads global data, and due to the no side effects directive the compiler has not updated the global data before the function call. So these pragmas should not be used on routines that have the potential to throw exceptions.

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  • Thank you to all entrants! Finalist announcement coming soon...

    - by Rebecca Amos
    We had a fantastic response to this year's Exceptional DBA Awards. A big thank you to everyone who took the time and effort to make a nomination - it's great to see so many DBAs being appreciated for the hard work that they do. We're now busy collating the answers to send off to the Exceptional DBA judges. They'll pick their five finalists, which we'll be announcing in a few weeks’ time. So watch this space for further details. In the meantime, don't forget you can still download your free resources from the Exceptional DBA Award website. You can use them for your own career and personal development; pass them on to a great DBA you know, or to start planning your entry for next year!

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  • Meredith Ryan: DBA of the Day

    Meredith Ryan – DBA at the Bell Group –was elected by judges and the SQL Server community as the Exceptional DBA of 2012. So who is Meredith, and how did she become a DBA? What makes her exceptional at her work? Simple-Talk sent Richard Morris to investigate. 12 essential tools for database professionalsThe SQL Developer Bundle contains 12 tools designed with the SQL Server developer and DBA in mind. Try it now.

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  • Using dates, and times in SQL Server: a workbench approach

    In this workbench, Robyn Page provides a gentle introduction to the use of dates in SQL Server. In this new version of her article, it is brought up to date with the newer Datetime features in SQL Server 2005 and 2008. Calling all Exceptional DBAs...Enter the awards now for your chance to become 2010’s Exceptional DBA and don’t forget to download your free copy of Brad McGehee’s Day-to-Day DBA Best Practices poster. Nominate now.

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  • When is it appropriate to use C++ exceptions?

    - by krebstar
    I'm trying to design a class that needs to dynamically allocate some memory.. I had planned to allocate the memory it needs during construction, but how do I handle failed memory allocations? Should I throw an exception? I read somewhere that exceptions should only be used for "exceptional" cases, and running out of memory doesn't seem like an exceptional case to me.. Should I allocate memory in a separate initialization routine instead and check for failures and then destroy the class instance gracefully? Or should I use exceptions instead? The class won't have anything useful to do if these memory allocations should fail.. EDIT: The consensus seems to be that running out of memory IS an exceptional case. Will see how to go about this.. Thanks.. :)

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  • We’re having an exceptionally good party – and you’re invited!

    - by Rebecca Amos
    Are you coming to the PASS Summit? Then join us to help Jeff Moden celebrate his Award of Exceptional DBA of the Year. Join us and SQLServerCentral for the Exceptional DBA Awards party on 11 October. We’ve booked a casino and bar, and will be giving away lots of great prizes throughout the night. It’s always a fun evening, and a fantastic chance to catch up with old friends – and meet new ones – before the conference kicks off. When: Tuesday 11 October, 8-10pm (after the Welcome Reception) Where: Room 2AB, Washington State Convention Center Tickets: $20 in advance ($30 on the door) Have a look at the current list of people coming – and come and join us! Get your ticket now.

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  • Error Handling without Exceptions

    - by James
    While searching SO for approaches to error handling related to business rule validation , all I encounter are examples of structured exception handling. MSDN and many other reputable development resources are very clear that exceptions are not to be used to handle routine error cases. They are only to be used for exceptional circumstances and unexpected errors that may occur from improper use by the programmer (but not the user.) In many cases, user errors such as fields that are left blank are common, and things which our program should expect, and therefore are not exceptional and not candidates for use of exceptions. QUOTE: Remember that the use of the term exception in programming has to do with the thinking that an exception should represent an exceptional condition. Exceptional conditions, by their very nature, do not normally occur; so your code should not throw exceptions as part of its everyday operations. Do not throw exceptions to signal commonly occurring events. Consider using alternate methods to communicate to a caller the occurrence of those events and leave the exception throwing for when something truly out of the ordinary happens. For example, proper use: private void DoSomething(string requiredParameter) { if (requiredParameter == null) throw new ArgumentExpcetion("requiredParameter cannot be null"); // Remainder of method body... } Improper use: // Renames item to a name supplied by the user. Name must begin with an "F". public void RenameItem(string newName) { // Items must have names that begin with "F" if (!newName.StartsWith("F")) throw new RenameException("New name must begin with /"F/""); // Remainder of method body... } In the above case, according to best practices, it would have been better to pass the error up to the UI without involving/requiring .NET's exception handling mechanisms. Using the same example above, suppose one were to need to enforce a set of naming rules against items. What approach would be best? Having the method return a enumerated result? RenameResult.Success, RenameResult.TooShort, RenameResult.TooLong, RenameResult.InvalidCharacters, etc. Using an event in a controller class to report to the UI class? The UI calls the controller's RenameItem method, and then handles an AfterRename event that the controller raises and that has rename status as part of the event args? The controlling class directly references and calls a method from the UI class that handles the error, e.g. ReportError(string text). Something else... ? Essentially, I want to know how to perform complex validation in classes that may not be the Form class itself, and pass the errors back to the Form class for display -- but I do not want to involve exception handling where it should not be used (even though it seems much easier!) Based on responses to the question, I feel that I'll have to state the problem in terms that are more concrete: UI = User Interface, BLL = Business Logic Layer (in this case, just a different class) User enters value within UI. UI reports value to BLL. BLL performs routine validation of the value. BLL discovers rule violation. BLL returns rule violation to UI. UI recieves return from BLL and reports error to user. Since it is routine for a user to enter invalid values, exceptions should not be used. What is the right way to do this without exceptions?

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  • The “Customer” Experience Revolution is Here

    - by Jeri Kelley
    A guest post by Anthony Lye, SVP, CRM, Oracle The Experience Revolution is here, and we are going to explore and celebrate our new customer experience (CX) ventures and strategy in an extraordinary way. In true Oracle fashion, we are hosting an exceptional event, bringing together customer experience advocates, visionaries and practitioners to discover and define Oracle’s Customer Experience vision. At The Experience Revolution, Oracle President Mark Hurd will detail the vision of where customer experience is going and how Oracle will help you get there. He will introduce for the first time Oracle Customer Experience, a cross stack suite of customer experience products that enable organizations to: Engage customers with a consistent, connected and personalized brand experience across all channels and devices Deliver exceptional cross-channel order fulfillment and customer service through web, call centers and social networks Connect and analyze data from all interactions to better personalize experiences and identify hidden opportunities The Experience Revolution will also include an interactive gallery of customer experience interactions, featuring videos, touch screens and near field communication technology that will guide each attendee through an individualized event experience. We hope you will join us for an incredible evening on June 25, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Gotham Hall in New York City.  You can register for The Experience Revolution here. And if you haven’t already joined the conversation on Twitter, please do:  #OracleCX, #ExperienceRevolution

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  • The “Customer” Experience Revolution is Here

    - by Jeri Kelley
    A guest post by Anthony Lye, SVP, CRM, Oracle The Experience Revolution is here, and we are going to explore and celebrate our new customer experience (CX) ventures and strategy in an extraordinary way. In true Oracle fashion, we are hosting an exceptional event, bringing together customer experience advocates, visionaries and practitioners to discover and define Oracle’s Customer Experience vision. At The Experience Revolution, Oracle President Mark Hurd will detail the vision of where customer experience is going and how Oracle will help you get there. He will introduce for the first time Oracle Customer Experience, a cross stack suite of customer experience products that enable organizations to: Engage customers with a consistent, connected and personalized brand experience across all channels and devices Deliver exceptional cross-channel order fulfillment and customer service through web, call centers and social networks Connect and analyze data from all interactions to better personalize experiences and identify hidden opportunities The Experience Revolution will also include an interactive gallery of customer experience interactions, featuring videos, touch screens and near field communication technology that will guide each attendee through an individualized event experience. We hope you will join us for an incredible evening on June 25, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. at Gotham Hall in New York City.  You can register for The Experience Revolution here. And if you haven’t already joined the conversation on Twitter, please do:  #OracleCX, #ExperienceRevolution

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  • SQL Server Interview Questions

    - by Rodney Vinyard
    User-Defined Functions Scalar User-Defined Function A Scalar user-defined function returns one of the scalar data types. Text, ntext, image and timestamp data types are not supported. These are the type of user-defined functions that most developers are used to in other programming languages. Table-Value User-Defined Function An Inline Table-Value user-defined function returns a table data type and is an exceptional alternative to a view as the user-defined function can pass parameters into a T-SQL select command and in essence provide us with a parameterized, non-updateable view of the underlying tables. Multi-statement Table-Value User-Defined Function A Multi-Statement Table-Value user-defined function returns a table and is also an exceptional alternative to a view as the function can support multiple T-SQL statements to build the final result where the view is limited to a single SELECT statement. Also, the ability to pass parameters into a T-SQL select command or a group of them gives us the capability to in essence create a parameterized, non-updateable view of the data in the underlying tables. Within the create function command you must define the table structure that is being returned. After creating this type of user-defined function, I can use it in the FROM clause of a T-SQL command unlike the behavior found when using a stored procedure which can also return record sets.

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  • Got that Friday feeling?

    - by Rebecca Amos
    Saturday is just around the corner, and we’re all starting to wrap up for the weekend. If you’re the DBA that ‘Friday feeling’ might be as much about checking and preparing your SQL Servers for the next two days, as about looking forward to spending time with friends and family. Whether you’re double-checking your disaster recovery strategy, or know that it’s your turn to be on-call this weekend, it’s likely you’re preparing for the worst, just in case. The fact that you’re making these checks, and caring about both your servers and your users, means that you might be an exceptional DBA. You’re already putting in that extra effort to make other people’s lives easier. So why not take some time for your professional development and enter the Exceptional DBA Awards? If you’re looking for some inspiration for your entry, download our Judges’ Top Tips poster for advice on what the judges are looking for from this year’s entrants. Not only will you be boosting your professional development, but you could win full conference registration for the 2011 PASS Summit in Seattle (where the awards ceremony will take place), four nights' hotel accommodation, and a copy of Red Gate’s SQL DBA Bundle. So take some time out for yourself this weekend and get started on your entry: www.exceptionaldba.com

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  • Oracle Customer Experience (CX) Solutions Make Retailers Merry

    - by Tuula Fai
    Tis the season to be jolly. If you’re a retailer, your level of jolliness depends on sales. So you watch trends like U.S. store traffic increasing 3.5% to 308 million on Black Friday but sales actually falling 1.8% to $11.2 billion. Fortunately, by the end of November, retail sales were up 3.7% over the previous year, thanks to life recovering after Hurricane Sandy. And online sales topped $1 billion for the first time ever! Who are the companies improving their sales online? They are big names like Walgreen’s Drugstore.com, Nordstrom’s HauteLook, and Intuit. More importantly, how are they doing it? They use cutting-edge business practices enabled by Oracle’s CX Cloud Service & Support solutions to: Increase conversions rates and order sizes (Customer Acquisition) Enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty (Customer Retention) Reduce contact center costs and improve agent productivity (Operational Efficiency). Acquisition + Retention + Operational Efficiency = Sustainable Growth and Profits. That’s the magic formula for retail customer service success. Don’t take our word for it. Look at the results of these Oracle customers: Walgreen’s Drugstore—30% sales conversion rate on chat sessions with 20% increase in shopping cart size Nordstrom’s HauteLook—40,000+ interactions per month—20% growth over last year— efficiently managed by 40 agents, with no increase in IT costs Intuit—50% increase in customer satisfaction and 70% decrease in cost per interaction Using Oracle’s CX Cloud & Service solutions, these retailers deliver consistent, relevant, and personalized experiences across all touchpoints, including social, mobile, and web. Their ability to connect with customers anytime, anywhere—providing the right answer at the right time—helps them create a defensible advantage in the marketplace. Want to learn more? Please visit http://www.oracle.com/goto/cloudlaunchpad for free resources on delivering exceptional customer service in the Cloud. Also, watch our YouTube channel to learn more about seamless multichannel retail and Winston Furnishings’ exceptional customer experience.

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  • SQL SERVER – Size of Index Table for Each Index – Solution 3 – Powershell

    - by pinaldave
    Laerte Junior If you are a Powershell user, the name of the Laerte Junior is not a new name. He is the one man with exceptional knowledge of Powershell. He is not only very knowledgeable, but also very kind and eager to those in need. I have been attempting to setup Powershell for many days, but constantly facing issues. I was not able to get going with this tool. Finally, yesterday I sent email to Laerte in response to his comment posted here. Within 5 minutes, Laerte came online and helped me with the solution. He spend nearly 15 minutes working along with me to solve my problem with installation. And yes, he did resolve it remotely without looking at my screen – What a skilled and exceptional person!! I will soon post a detail note about the issue I faced and resolved with the help of Laerte. Here is his solution to my earlier puzzle in his own words. Read the original puzzle here and Laerte’s solution from here. Hi Pinal, I do not say better, but maybe another approach to enthusiasts in powershell and SQLSPX library would be: 1 – All indexes in all tables and all databases Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver “Yourserver” | Get-SqlTable | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused 2 – All Indexes in all tables and specific database Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver “Yourserver” “Yourdb” | Get-SqlTable | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused 3 – All Indexes in specific table and database Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver “Yourserver” “Yourdb” | Get-SqlTable “YourTable” | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused and to output to txt.. pipe Out-File Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver “Yourserver” | Get-SqlTable | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused | out-file c:\IndexesSize.txt If you have one txt with all your servers, can be for all of them also. Lets say you have all your servers in servers.txt: something like NameServer1 NameServer2 NameServer3 NameServer4 We could Use : foreach ($Server in Get-content c:\temp\servers.txt) { Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver $Server | Get-SqlTable | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused } :) After fixing my issue with Powershell, I ran Laerte‘s second suggestion – “All Indexes in all tables and specific database” and found the following accurate output. Click to Enlarge Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Index, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology Tagged: Powershell

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  • SQL SERVER – Size of Index Table for Each Index – Solution 3 – Powershell

    - by pinaldave
    Laerte Junior If you are a Powershell user, the name of the Laerte Junior is not a new name. He is the one man with exceptional knowledge of Powershell. He is not only very knowledgeable, but also very kind and eager to those in need. I have been attempting to setup Powershell for many days, but constantly facing issues. I was not able to get going with this tool. Finally, yesterday I sent email to Laerte in response to his comment posted here. Within 5 minutes, Laerte came online and helped me with the solution. He spend nearly 15 minutes working along with me to solve my problem with installation. And yes, he did resolve it remotely without looking at my screen – What a skilled and exceptional person!! I will soon post a detail note about the issue I faced and resolved with the help of Laerte. Here is his solution to my earlier puzzle in his own words. Read the original puzzle here and Laerte’s solution from here. Hi Pinal, I do not say better, but maybe another approach to enthusiasts in powershell and SQLSPX library would be: 1 – All indexes in all tables and all databases Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver “Yourserver” | Get-SqlTable | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused 2 – All Indexes in all tables and specific database Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver “Yourserver” “Yourdb” | Get-SqlTable | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused 3 – All Indexes in specific table and database Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver “Yourserver” “Yourdb” | Get-SqlTable “YourTable” | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused and to output to txt.. pipe Out-File Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver “Yourserver” | Get-SqlTable | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused | out-file c:\IndexesSize.txt If you have one txt with all your servers, can be for all of them also. Lets say you have all your servers in servers.txt: something like NameServer1 NameServer2 NameServer3 NameServer4 We could Use : foreach ($Server in Get-content c:\temp\servers.txt) { Get-SqlDatabase -sqlserver $Server | Get-SqlTable | Get-SqlIndex | Format-table Server,dbname,schema,table,name,id,spaceused } :) After fixing my issue with Powershell, I ran Laerte‘s second suggestion – “All Indexes in all tables and specific database” and found the following accurate output. Click to Enlarge Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Index, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology Tagged: Powershell

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  • We are hiring (take a minute to read this, is not another BS talk ;) )

    - by gsusx
    I really wanted to wait until our new website was out to blog about this but I hope you can put up with the ugly website for a few more days J. Tellago keeps growing and, after a quick break at the beginning of the year, we are back in hiring mode J. We are currently expanding our teams in the United States and Argentina and have various positions open in the following categories. .NET developers: If you are an exceptional .NET programmer with a passion for creating great software solutions working...(read more)

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  • 2010 Visual C# MVP Award

    - by Reed
    I received a pleasant surprise today.  I was presented this morning with the 2010 Microsoft® MVP Award for Visual C#.  According to the award email, this “award is given to exceptional technical community leaders who actively share their high quality, real world expertise with others.” I feel honored and proud to receive this award, and hope that I can continue to be a valuable member of the community in the future.  Thank you to everyone who nominated me!

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  • 62 miles up

    - by fatherjack
    RedGate are known for being a software company with a big personality and having a huge presence in the SQL Community. They run the annual Exceptional DBA competition, having held a party at the PASS summit last night to celebrate this years winner - Jeff Moden. They have also got a great attitude towards their staff as demonstrated on their website. Today, just after the PASS Summit keynote speech they made an announcement that is literally going to give one lucky winner the ride of their life....(read more)

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  • Oracle ETPM v2.3.1 Examachine Performance Benchmark Data Sheet

    - by Paula Speranza-Hadley
    Oracle Tax is pleased to announce the exceptional results of the Oracle ETPM v2.3.1 Examachine performance benchmark.   The benchmark achieved the following results:  · Processed8M outpayments and 2M payments in  6 hours · Processed 1M forms in 4 hours · Near  linear scalability of batch processing For the complete data sheet, please click on the following link:  https://blogs.oracle.com/tax/resource/OracleETPMv231ExamachinePerformanceBenchmarkDataSheet.pdf

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  • Why do iterators in Python raise an exception?

    - by NullUserException
    Here's the syntax for iterators in Java (somewhat similar syntax in C#): Iterator it = sequence.iterator(); while (it.hasNext()) { System.out.println(it.next()); } Which makes sense. Here's the equivalent syntax in Python: it = iter(sequence) while True: try: value = it.next() except StopIteration: break print(value) I thought Exceptions were supposed to be used only in, well, exceptional circumstances. Why does Python use exceptions to stop iteration?

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  • Simple Query tuning with STATISTICS IO and Execution plans

    A great deal can be gleaned from the use of the STATISTICS IO and the execution plan, when you are checking that a query is performing properly. Josef Richberg, the current holder of the 'Exceptional DBA' award, explains how an apparently draconian IT policy turns out to be a useful ways of ensuring that Stored Procedures are carefully checked for performance before they are released

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  • How to Set Up an Online Ecommerce Store

    Online Ecommerce stores are gaining popularity these days. Their business is achieving exceptional heights. The reason behind their success is the lack of time that people in the present world have. ... [Author: Anurag Gupta - Web Design and Development - May 11, 2010]

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  • Implementing Advanced Search Operators

    Search engines have set up additional applications identified as advanced search operators to give sophisticated users additionally more management while searching. Advanced search operators are exceptional terms that you just can put in your search item for you to locate particular sorts of info that a standard search are unable to provide. Numerous of these operators supply handy tools for Search engines gurus and some others who require rather specific details, or maybe who prefer to minimize their search to really distinct results.

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  • A Bite With No Teeth&ndash;Demystifying Non-Compete Clauses

    - by D'Arcy Lussier
    *DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer and this post in no way should be considered legal advice. I’m also in Canada, so references made are to Canadian court cases. I received a signed letter the other day, a reminder from my previous employer about some clauses associated with my employment and entry into an employee stock purchase program. So since this is in effect for the next 12 months, I guess I’m not starting that new job tomorrow. I’m kidding of course. How outrageous, how presumptuous, pompous, and arrogant that a company – any company – would actually place these conditions upon an employee. And yet, this is not uncommon. Especially in the IT industry, we see time and again similar wording in our employment agreements. But…are these legal? Is there any teeth behind the threat of the bite? Luckily, the answer seems to be ‘No’. I want to highlight two cases that support this. The first is Lyons v. Multari. In a nutshell, Dentist hires younger Dentist to be an associate. In their short, handwritten agreement, a non-compete clause was written stating “Protective Covenant. 3 yrs. – 5mi” (meaning you can’t set up shop within 5 miles for 3 years). Well, the young dentist left and did start an oral surgery office within 5 miles and within 3 years. Off to court they go! The initial judge sided with the older dentist, but on appeal it was overturned. Feel free to read the transcript of the decision here, but let me highlight one portion from section [19]: The general rule in most common law jurisdictions is that non-competition clauses in employment contracts are void. The sections following [19] explain further, and discuss Elsley v. J.G. Collins Insurance Agency Ltd. and its impact on Canadian law in this regard. The second case is Winnipeg Livestock Sales Ltd. v. Plewman. Desmond Plewman is an auctioneer, and worked at Winnipeg Livestock Sales. Part of his employment agreement was that he could not work for a competitor for 18 months if he left the company. Well, he left, and took up an important role in a competing company. The case went to court and as with Lyons v. Multari, the initial judge found in favour of the plaintiffs. Also as in the first case, that was overturned on appeal. Again, read through the transcript of the decision, but consider section [28]: In other words, even though Plewman has a great deal of skill as an auctioneer, Winnipeg Livestock has no proprietary interest in his professional skill and experience, even if they were acquired during his time working for Winnipeg Livestock.  Thus, Winnipeg Livestock has the burden of establishing that it has a legitimate proprietary interest requiring protection.  On this key question there is little evidence before the Court.  The record discloses that part of Plewman’s job was to “mingle with the … crowd” and to telephone customers and prospective customers about future prospects for the sale of livestock.  It may seem reasonable to assume that Winnipeg Livestock has a legitimate proprietary interest in its customer connections; but there is no evidence to indicate that there is any significant degree of “customer loyalty” in the business, as opposed to customers making choices based on other considerations such as cost, availability and the like. So are there any incidents where a non-compete can actually be valid? Yes, and these are considered “exceptional” cases, meaning that the situation meets certain circumstances. Michael Carabash has a great blog series discussing the above mentioned cases as well as the difference between a non-compete and non-solicit agreement. He talks about the exceptional criteria: In summary, the authorities reveal that the following circumstances will generally be relevant in determining whether a case is an “exceptional” one so that a general non-competition clause will be found to be reasonable: - The length of service with the employer. - The amount of personal service to clients. - Whether the employee dealt with clients exclusively, or on a sustained or     recurring basis. - Whether the knowledge about the client which the employee gained was of a   confidential nature, or involved an intimate knowledge of the client’s   particular needs, preferences or idiosyncrasies. - Whether the nature of the employee’s work meant that the employee had   influence over clients in the sense that the clients relied upon the employee’s   advice, or trusted the employee. - If competition by the employee has already occurred, whether there is   evidence that clients have switched their custom to him, especially without   direct solicitation. - The nature of the business with respect to whether personal knowledge of   the clients’ confidential matters is required. - The nature of the business with respect to the strength of customer loyalty,   how clients are “won” and kept, and whether the clientele is a recurring one. - The community involved and whether there were clientele yet to be exploited   by anyone. I close this blog post with a final quote, one from Zvulony & Co’s blog post on this subject. Again, all of this is not official legal advice, but I think we can see what all these sources are pointing towards. To answer my earlier question, there’s no teeth behind the threat of the bite. In light of this list, and the decisions in Lyons and Orlan, it is reasonably certain that in most employment situations a non-competition clause will be ineffective in protecting an employer from a departing employee who wishes to compete in the same business. The Courts have been relatively consistent in their position that if a non-solicitation clause can protect an employer’s interests, then a non-competition clause is probably unreasonable. Employers (or their solicitors) should avoid the inclination to draft restrictive covenants in broad, catch-all language. Or in other words, when drafting a restrictive covenant – take only what you need! D

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