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• What spins your disks?

  - by fatherjack

  LiveJournal Tags: TSQL,How To,Tips and Tricks,DMV,File Usage I'm not asking what makes you mad - that's what grinds your gears; I am asking what activities on your servers make your hard drive spindles get spinning. Do you know which files are the busiest on your SQL Server? Are some databases burning a hole in your platters? Is the TempDB data file busier than your Distribution database, or does one of your CRM partitions trump them both? With a little bit of careful consideration you can...(read more)

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• Share some tips and tricks in VS 2010?

  - by CodeToGlory

  I just installed VS 2010 and I like what I see. Can you guys share some cool things in VS2010? myself I like the Architecture explorer a lot. Looking forward to your tips.

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• SQL SERVER – Weekly Series – Memory Lane – #032

  - by Pinal Dave

  Here is the list of selected articles of SQLAuthority.com across all these years. Instead of just listing all the articles I have selected a few of my most favorite articles and have listed them here with additional notes below it. Let me know which one of the following is your favorite article from memory lane. 2007 Complete Series of Database Coding Standards and Guidelines SQL SERVER Database Coding Standards and Guidelines – Introduction SQL SERVER – Database Coding Standards and Guidelines – Part 1 SQL SERVER – Database Coding Standards and Guidelines – Part 2 SQL SERVER Database Coding Standards and Guidelines Complete List Download Explanation and Example – SELF JOIN When all of the data you require is contained within a single table, but data needed to extract is related to each other in the table itself. Examples of this type of data relate to Employee information, where the table may have both an Employee’s ID number for each record and also a field that displays the ID number of an Employee’s supervisor or manager. To retrieve the data tables are required to relate/join to itself. Insert Multiple Records Using One Insert Statement – Use of UNION ALL This is very interesting question I have received from new developer. How can I insert multiple values in table using only one insert? Now this is interesting question. When there are multiple records are to be inserted in the table following is the common way using T-SQL. Function to Display Current Week Date and Day – Weekly Calendar Straight blog post with script to find current week date and day based on the parameters passed in the function.  2008 In my beginning years, I have almost same confusion as many of the developer had in their earlier years. Here are two of the interesting question which I have attempted to answer in my early year. Even if you are experienced developer may be you will still like to read following two questions: Order Of Column In Index Order of Conditions in WHERE Clauses Example of DISTINCT in Aggregate Functions Have you ever used DISTINCT with the Aggregation Function? Here is a simple example about how users can do it. Create a Comma Delimited List Using SELECT Clause From Table Column Straight to script example where I explained how to do something easy and quickly. Compound Assignment Operators SQL SERVER 2008 has introduced new concept of Compound Assignment Operators. Compound Assignment Operators are available in many other programming languages for quite some time. Compound Assignment Operators is operator where variables are operated upon and assigned on the same line. PIVOT and UNPIVOT Table Examples Here is a very interesting question – the answer to the question can be YES or NO both. “If we PIVOT any table and UNPIVOT that table do we get our original table?” Read the blog post to get the explanation of the question above. 2009 What is Interim Table – Simple Definition of Interim Table The interim table is a table that is generated by joining two tables and not the final result table. In other words, when two tables are joined they create an interim table as resultset but the resultset is not final yet. It may be possible that more tables are about to join on the interim table, and more operations are still to be applied on that table (e.g. Order By, Having etc). Besides, it may be possible that there is no interim table; sometimes final table is what is generated when the query is run. 2010 Stored Procedure and Transactions If Stored Procedure is transactional then, it should roll back complete transactions when it encounters any errors. Well, that does not happen in this case, which proves that Stored Procedure does not only provide just the transactional feature to a batch of T-SQL. Generate Database Script for SQL Azure When talking about SQL Azure the most common complaint I hear is that the script generated from stand-along SQL Server database is not compatible with SQL Azure. This was true for some time for sure but not any more. If you have SQL Server 2008 R2 installed you can follow the guideline below to generate a script which is compatible with SQL Azure. Convert IN to EXISTS – Performance Talk It is NOT necessary that every time when IN is replaced by EXISTS it gives better performance. However, in our case listed above it does for sure give better performance. You can read about this subject in the associated blog post. Subquery or Join – Various Options – SQL Server Engine Knows the Best Every single time whenever there is a performance tuning exercise, I hear the conversation from developer where some prefer subquery and some prefer join. In this two part blog post, I explain the same in the detail with examples. Part 1 | Part 2 Merge Operations – Insert, Update, Delete in Single Execution MERGE is a new feature that provides an efficient way to do multiple DML operations. In earlier versions of SQL Server, we had to write separate statements to INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE data based on certain conditions; however, at present, by using the MERGE statement, we can include the logic of such data changes in one statement that even checks when the data is matched and then just update it, and similarly, when the data is unmatched, it is inserted. 2011 Puzzle – Statistics are not updated but are Created Once Here is the quick scenario about my setup. Create Table Insert 1000 Records Check the Statistics Now insert 10 times more 10,000 indexes Check the Statistics – it will be NOT updated – WHY? Question to You – When to use Function and When to use Stored Procedure Personally, I believe that they are both different things - they cannot be compared. I can say, it will be like comparing apples and oranges. Each has its own unique use. However, they can be used interchangeably at many times and in real life (i.e., production environment). I have personally seen both of these being used interchangeably many times. This is the precise reason for asking this question. 2012 In year 2012 I had two interesting series ran on the blog. If there is no fun in learning, the learning becomes a burden. For the same reason, I had decided to build a three part quiz around SEQUENCE. The quiz was to identify the next value of the sequence. I encourage all of you to take part in this fun quiz. Guess the Next Value – Puzzle 1 Guess the Next Value – Puzzle 2 Guess the Next Value – Puzzle 3 Guess the Next Value – Puzzle 4 Simple Example to Configure Resource Governor – Introduction to Resource Governor Resource Governor is a feature which can manage SQL Server Workload and System Resource Consumption. We can limit the amount of CPU and memory consumption by limiting /governing /throttling on the SQL Server. If there are different workloads running on SQL Server and each of the workload needs different resources or when workloads are competing for resources with each other and affecting the performance of the whole server resource governor is a very important task. Tricks to Replace SELECT * with Column Names – SQL in Sixty Seconds #017 – Video  Retrieves unnecessary columns and increases network traffic When a new columns are added views needs to be refreshed manually Leads to usage of sub-optimal execution plan Uses clustered index in most of the cases instead of using optimal index It is difficult to debug SQL SERVER – Load Generator – Free Tool From CodePlex The best part of this SQL Server Load Generator is that users can run multiple simultaneous queries again SQL Server using different login account and different application name. The interface of the tool is extremely easy to use and very intuitive as well. A Puzzle – Swap Value of Column Without Case Statement Let us assume there is a single column in the table called Gender. The challenge is to write a single update statement which will flip or swap the value in the column. For example if the value in the gender column is ‘male’ swap it with ‘female’ and if the value is ‘female’ swap it with ‘male’. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Memory Lane, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Weekly Series – Memory Lane – #031

  - by Pinal Dave

  Here is the list of selected articles of SQLAuthority.com across all these years. Instead of just listing all the articles I have selected a few of my most favorite articles and have listed them here with additional notes below it. Let me know which one of the following is your favorite article from memory lane. 2007 Find Table without Clustered Index – Find Table with no Primary Key Clustered index is very important concept for any table. They impact the performance very heavily. Here is a quick script to find tables without a clustered index. Replace TEXT with VARCHAR(MAX) – Stop using TEXT, NTEXT, IMAGE Data Types Question: “Is VARCHAR (MAX) big enough to store the TEXT field?” Answer: “Yes, VARCHAR(MAX) is big enough to accommodate TEXT field. TEXT, NTEXT and IMAGE data types of SQL Server 2000 will be deprecated in a future version of SQL Server, SQL Server 2005 provides backward compatibility to data types but it is recommended to use new data types which are VARHCAR (MAX), NVARCHAR (MAX) and VARBINARY (MAX).” Limiting Result Sets by Using TABLESAMPLE – Examples Introduced in SQL Server 2005, TABLESAMPLE allows you to extract a sampling of rows from a table in the FROM clause. The rows retrieved are random and they are are not in any order. This sampling can be based on a percentage of number of rows. You can use TABLESAMPLE when only a sampling of rows is necessary for the application instead of a full result set. User Defined Functions (UDF) Limitations UDF have its own advantage and usage but in this article we will see the limitation of UDF. Things UDF can not do and why Stored Procedure are considered as more flexible then UDFs. Stored Procedure are more flexibility then User Defined Functions(UDF). However, this blog post is a good read to know what are the limitations of UDF. Change Database Compatible Level – Backward Compatibility For a long time SQL Server stayed on the compatibility level of 80 which is of SQL Server 2000. However, as soon as SQL Server 2005 introduced the issue of compatibility was quite a major issue. Since that time MS has been releasing the versions at every 2-3 years, changing compatibility is a ever popular topic. In this blog post, we learn how we can do the same using T-SQL. We can also do the same using SSMS and here is the blog post for the same: Change Database Compatible Level – Backward Compatibility – Part 2 – Management Studio. Constraint on VARCHAR(MAX) Field To Limit It Certain Length How can I limit the VARCHAR(MAX) field with maximum length of 12500 characters only. His Question was valid as our application was allowed 12500 characters. First of all – this requirement is bit strange but if someone wants to do the same, they can do it as described in this blog post. 2008 UNPIVOT Table Example Understanding UNPIVOT can be very complicated at times. In this blog post, I have attempted to explain the same concept in very simple words. Create Default Constraint Over Table Column A simple straight to script blog post – I still use this blog quite many times for my own reference. UDF – Get the Day of the Week Function It took me 4 iteration to find this very simple function which can immediately get the day of the week in a single line. 2009 Find Hostname and Current Logged In User Name There are two tricks listed in this blog post where users can find out the hostname and current logged user name immediately and very easily. Interesting Observation of Logon Trigger On All Servers When I was doing a project, I made an interesting observation of executing a logon trigger multiple times. It was absolutely unexpected for me! As I was logging only once, naturally, I was expecting the entry only once. However, it did it multiple times on different threads – indeed an eccentric phenomenon at first sight! Difference Between Candidate Keys and Primary Key One needs to be very careful in selecting the Primary Key as an incorrect selection can adversely impact the database architect and future normalization. For a Candidate Key to qualify as a Primary Key, it should be Non-NULL and unique in any domain. I have observed quite often that Primary Keys are seldom changed. I would like to have your feedback on not changing a Primary Key. Create Multiple Filegroup For Single Database Why should one create multiple file group for any database and what are the advantages of the same. In this blog post, I explain the same in detail. List All Objects Created on All Filegroups in Database In this blog post we discuss the essential question – “How can I find which object belongs to which filegroup. Is there any way to know this?” 2010 DATE and TIME in SQL Server 2008 When DATE is converted to DATETIME it adds the of midnight. When TIME is converted to DATETIME it adds the date of 1900 and it is something one wants to consider if you are going to run scripts from SQL Server 2008 to earlier version with CONVERT. Disabled Index and Update Statistics If you do not need a nonclustered index, I suggest you to drop it as keeping them disabled is an overhead on your system. This is because every time the statistics are updated for system all the statistics for disabled indexes are also updated. Precision of SMALLDATETIME – A 1 Minute Precision The precision of the datatype SMALLDATETIME is 1 minute. It discards the seconds by rounding up or rounding down any seconds greater than zero. 2011 Getting Columns Headers without Result Data – SET FMTONLY ON SET FMTONLY ON returns only metadata to the client. It can be used to test the format of the response without actually running the query. When this setting is ON the resultset only have headers of the results but no data. Copy Database from Instance to Another Instance – Copy Paste in SQL Server SQL Server has a feature which copy database from one database to another database and it can be automated as well using SSIS. Make sure you have SQL Server Agent Turned on as this feature will create a job. Puzzle – SELECT * vs SELECT COUNT(*) If you have ever wondered SELECT * gives error when executed alone but SELECT COUNT(*) does not. Why? in that case, you should read this blog post. Creating All New Database with Full Recovery Model This blog post is very based on very interesting story where the user wants to do something by default for every single new database created. Model database is a secret weapon which should be used very carefully and with proper evalution. If used carefully this can be a very much beneficiary when we need a newly created database behave in certain fashion. 2012 In year 2012 I had two interesting series ran on the blog. If there is no fun in learning, the learning becomes a burden. For the same reason, I had decided to build a three part quiz around SEQUENCE. The quiz was to identify the next value of the sequence. I encourage all of you to take part in this fun quiz. Guess the Next Value – Puzzle 1 Guess the Next Value – Puzzle 2 Guess the Next Value – Puzzle 3 Can anyone remember their final day of schooling?  This is probably a silly question because – of course you can!  Many people mark this as the most exciting, happiest day of their life.  It marks the end of testing, the end of following rules set by teachers, and the beginning of finally being able to earn money and work in your chosen field. Read five part series on developer training subject Developer Training - Importance and Significance - Part 1 Developer Training – Employee Morals and Ethics – Part 2 Developer Training – Difficult Questions and Alternative Perspective - Part 3 Developer Training – Various Options for Developer Training – Part 4 Developer Training – A Conclusive Summary- Part 5 Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Memory Lane, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• String Formatting Tricks/Docs

  - by Meltemi

  Was reading the response by Shaggy Frog to this post and was intrigued by the following line of code: NSLog(@"%@", [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@:%*s%5.2f", key, padding, " ", [object floatValue]]); I know string formatting is an age old art but I'm kinda doing the end around into Cocoa/Obj-C programming and skipped a few grades along the way. Where is a good (best) place to learn all the string formatting tricks allowed in NSString's stringWithFormat? I'm familiar with Apple's String Format Specifiers page but from what I can tell it doesn't shed light on whatever is happening with %*s or the %5.2f (not to mention the 3 apparent placeholders followed by 4 arguments) above?!?

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• Tricks to avoid losing motivation?

  - by AareP

  Motivation is a tricky thing to upkeep. Once I thought that ambitious projects will keep programmer motivated, and too simple tasks will hinder his motivation. Now I have plenty of experience with small and large projects, desktop/web/database programming, c++/c#/java/php languages, oop/non-oop paradigms, day-job/free-time programming.. but I still can't answer the question of motivation. Which programming tasks I like, and which don't? It seems to depend on too many variables. One thing remains constant though. It's that starting everything from scratch is always more motivating than extending some existing system. Unfortunately it's hard to use this trick in productive programming. :) So my question is, what tricks programmer can use to stay motivated? For example should we use pen and paper as much as possible, in order not to get fed up with monitor and keyboard?

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• iPhone GPS Development - Tips + Tricks

  - by Keith Fitzgerald

  Hello - I'm looking for some feedback, blog links, etc that offer some tips and tricks for iPhone GPS development. I've read and understand the API, I have my demo app up and running, etc but I have run into some "quirks" with gps on iphone. For example, it seems that you you will receive a lot less location updates when your iphone enters "power save" mode. I've read that you can combat this by playing music in your application [not sure if this is true]. It also seems that, terms of making a reasonable pedometer, you should filter out any reading with horizontal accuracies less than 20 meters. Does this sound right? Is there any kind of checklist out on the web for iphone gps gotchas? Thanks in advance.

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• SQL SERVER – 2011 – Wait Type – Day 25 of 28

  - by pinaldave

  Since the beginning of the series, I have been getting the following question again and again: “What are the changes in SQL Server 2011 – Denali with respect to Wait Types?” SQL Server 2011 – Denali is yet to be released, and making statements on the subject will be inappropriate. Denali CTP1 has been released so I suggest that all of you download the same and experiment on it. I quickly compared the wait stats of SQL Server 2008 R2 and Denali (CTP1) and found the following changes: Wait Types Exists in SQL Server 2008 R2 and Not Exists in SQL Server 2011 “Denali” SOS_RESERVEDMEMBLOCKLIST SOS_LOCALALLOCATORLIST QUERY_WAIT_ERRHDL_SERVICE QUERY_ERRHDL_SERVICE_DONE XE_PACKAGE_LOCK_BACKOFF Wait Types Exists in SQL Server 2011 and Not Exists in SQL Server 2008 SLEEP_MASTERMDREADY SOS_MEMORY_TOPLEVELBLOCKALLOCATOR SOS_PHYS_PAGE_CACHE FILESTREAM_WORKITEM_QUEUE FILESTREAM_FILE_OBJECT FILESTREAM_FCB FILESTREAM_CACHE XE_CALLBACK_LIST PWAIT_MD_RELATION_CACHE PWAIT_MD_SERVER_CACHE PWAIT_MD_LOGIN_STATS DISPATCHER_PRIORITY_QUEUE_SEMAPHORE FT_PROPERTYLIST_CACHE SECURITY_KEYRING_RWLOCK BROKER_TRANSMISSION_WORK BROKER_TRANSMISSION_OBJECT BROKER_TRANSMISSION_TABLE BROKER_DISPATCHER BROKER_FORWARDER UCS_MANAGER UCS_TRANSPORT UCS_MEMORY_NOTIFICATION UCS_ENDPOINT_CHANGE UCS_TRANSPORT_STREAM_CHANGE QUERY_TASK_ENQUEUE_MUTEX DBCC_SCALE_OUT_EXPR_CACHE PWAIT_ALL_COMPONENTS_INITIALIZED PREEMPTIVE_SP_SERVER_DIAGNOSTICS SP_SERVER_DIAGNOSTICS_SLEEP SP_SERVER_DIAGNOSTICS_INIT_MUTEX AM_INDBUILD_ALLOCATION QRY_PARALLEL_THREAD_MUTEX FT_MASTER_MERGE_COORDINATOR PWAIT_RESOURCE_SEMAPHORE_FT_PARALLEL_QUERY_SYNC REDO_THREAD_PENDING_WORK REDO_THREAD_SYNC COUNTRECOVERYMGR HADR_DB_COMMAND HADR_TRANSPORT_SESSION HADR_CLUSAPI_CALL PWAIT_HADR_CHANGE_NOTIFIER_TERMINATION_SYNC PWAIT_HADR_ACTION_COMPLETED PWAIT_HADR_OFFLINE_COMPLETED PWAIT_HADR_ONLINE_COMPLETED PWAIT_HADR_FORCEFAILOVER_COMPLETED PWAIT_HADR_WORKITEM_COMPLETED HADR_WORK_POOL HADR_WORK_QUEUE HADR_LOGCAPTURE_SYNC LOGPOOL_CACHESIZE LOGPOOL_FREEPOOLS LOGPOOL_REPLACEMENTSET LOGPOOL_CONSUMERSET LOGPOOL_MGRSET LOGPOOL_CONSUMER LOGPOOLREFCOUNTEDOBJECT_REFDONE HADR_SYNC_COMMIT HADR_AG_MUTEX PWAIT_SECURITY_CACHE_INVALIDATION PWAIT_HADR_SERVER_READY_CONNECTIONS HADR_FILESTREAM_MANAGER HADR_FILESTREAM_BLOCK_FLUSH HADR_FILESTREAM_IOMGR XDES_HISTORY XDES_SNAPSHOT HADR_FILESTREAM_IOMGR_IOCOMPLETION UCS_SESSION_REGISTRATION ENABLE_EMPTY_VERSIONING HADR_DB_OP_START_SYNC HADR_DB_OP_COMPLETION_SYNC HADR_LOGPROGRESS_SYNC HADR_TRANSPORT_DBRLIST HADR_FAILOVER_PARTNER XDESTSVERMGR GHOSTCLEANUPSYNCMGR HADR_AR_UNLOAD_COMPLETED HADR_PARTNER_SYNC HADR_DBSTATECHANGE_SYNC We already know that Wait Types and Wait Stats are going to be the next big thing in the next version of SQL Server. So now I am eagerly waiting to dig deeper in the wait stats. Read all the post in the Wait Types and Queue series. Note: The information presented here is from my experience and there is no way that I claim it to be accurate. I suggest reading Book OnLine for further clarification. All the discussion of Wait Stats in this blog is generic and varies from system to system. It is recommended that you test this on a development server before implementing it to a production server. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Wait Stats, SQL Wait Types, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Generate Report for Index Physical Statistics – SSMS

  - by pinaldave

  Few days ago, I wrote about SQL SERVER – Out of the Box – Activity and Performance Reports from SSSMS (Link). A user asked me a question regarding if we can use similar reports to get the detail about Indexes. Yes, it is possible to do the same. There are similar type of reports are available at Database level, just like those available at the Server Instance level. You can right click on Database name and click Reports. Under Standard Reports, you will find following reports. Disk Usage Disk Usage by Top Tables Disk Usage by Table Disk Usage by Partition Backup and Restore Events All Transactions All Blocking Transactions Top Transactions by Age Top Transactions by Blocked Transactions Count Top Transactions by Locks Count Resource Locking Statistics by Objects Object Execute Statistics Database Consistency history Index Usage Statistics Index Physical Statistics Schema Change history User Statistics Select the Reports with name Index Physical Statistics. Once click, a report containing all the index names along with other information related to index will be visible, e.g. Index Type and number of partitions. One column that caught my interest was Operation Recommended. In some place, it suggested that index needs to be rebuilt. It is also possible to click and expand the column of partitions and see additional details about index as well. DBA and Developers who just want to have idea about how your index is and its physical statistics can use this tool. Click to Enlarge Note: Please note that I will rebuild my indexes just because this report is recommending it. There are many other parameters you need to consider before rebuilding indexes. However, this tool gives you the accurate stats of your index and it can be right away exported to Excel or PDF writing by clicking on the report. Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Index, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL Utility, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Four Posts on Removing the Bookmark Lookup – Key Lookup

  - by pinaldave

  In recent times I have observed that not many people have proper understanding of what is bookmark lookup or key lookup. Increasing numbers of the questions tells me that this is something developers are encountering every single day but have no idea how to deal with it. I have previously written three articles on this subject. I want to point all of you looking for further information on the same post. SQL SERVER – Query Optimization – Remove Bookmark Lookup – Remove RID Lookup – Remove Key Lookup SQL SERVER – Query Optimization – Remove Bookmark Lookup – Remove RID Lookup – Remove Key Lookup – Part 2 SQL SERVER – Query Optimization – Remove Bookmark Lookup – Remove RID Lookup – Remove Key Lookup – Part 3 SQL SERVER – Interesting Observation – Execution Plan and Results of Aggregate Concatenation Queries In one of my recent class we had in depth conversation about what are the alternative of creating covering indexes to remove the bookmark lookup. I really want to this question open to all of you and see what community thinks about the same. Is there any other way then creating covering index or included index to remove his expensive keylookup? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Backup and Restore, SQL Index, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, SQLServer, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4

  - by pinaldave

  If you are still using SQL Server 2005 – I suggest that you consider migrating to later version of the SQL Server 2008/2008 R2. Due to any reason, you wanted to continue using SQL Server 2005, I suggest that you take a look at the Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4. There are many different tools and features available in pack, which can be very handy and can solve issues. Microsoft ADOMD.NET Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0 Microsoft OLEDB Provider for DB2 Microsoft SQL Server Management Pack for MOM 2005 Microsoft SQL Server 2000 PivotTable Services Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DTS Designer Components Microsoft SQL Server Native Client Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services 9.0 OLE DB Provider Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Backward Compatibility Components Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Command Line Query Utility Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Datamining Viewer Controls Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Management Objects Collection Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Notification Services Client Components Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Upgrade Advisor Microsoft .NET Data Provider for mySAP Business Suite, Preview Version Reporting Add-In for Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Microsoft Exception Message Box Data Mining Managed Plug-in Algorithm API for SQL Server 2005 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007 SQL Server 2005 Performance Dashboard Reports SQL Server 2005 Best Practices Analyzer Download Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4 Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Service Pack, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Subquery or Join – Various Options – SQL Server Engine knows the Best

  - by pinaldave

  This is followup post of my earlier article SQL SERVER – Convert IN to EXISTS – Performance Talk, after reading all the comments I have received I felt that I could write more on the same subject to clear few things out. First let us run following four queries, all of them are giving exactly same resultset. USE AdventureWorks GO -- use of = SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE E.EmployeeID = ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA WHERE EA.EmployeeID = E.EmployeeID) GO -- use of in SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE E.EmployeeID IN ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA WHERE EA.EmployeeID = E.EmployeeID) GO -- use of exists SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE EXISTS ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA WHERE EA.EmployeeID = E.EmployeeID) GO -- Use of Join SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E INNER JOIN HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA ON E.EmployeeID = EA.EmployeeID GO Let us compare the execution plan of the queries listed above. Click on image to see larger image. It is quite clear from the execution plan that in case of IN, EXISTS and JOIN SQL Server Engines is smart enough to figure out what is the best optimal plan of Merge Join for the same query and execute the same. However, in the case of use of Equal (=) Operator, SQL Server is forced to use Nested Loop and test each result of the inner query and compare to outer query, leading to cut the performance. Please note that here I no mean suggesting that Nested Loop is bad or Merge Join is better. This can very well vary on your machine and amount of resources available on your computer. When I see Equal (=) operator used in query like above, I usually recommend to see if user can use IN or EXISTS or JOIN. As I said, this can very much vary on different system. What is your take in above query? I believe SQL Server Engines is usually pretty smart to figure out what is ideal execution plan and use it. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Joins, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Subquery or Join – Various Options – SQL Server Engine Knows the Best – Part 2

  - by pinaldave

  This blog post is part 2 of the earlier written article SQL SERVER – Subquery or Join – Various Options – SQL Server Engine knows the Best by Paulo R. Pereira. Paulo has left excellent comment to earlier article once again proving the point that SQL Server Engine is smart enough to figure out the best plan itself and uses the same for the query. Let us go over his comment as he has posted. “I think IN or EXISTS is the best choice, because there is a little difference between ‘Merge Join’ of query with JOIN (Inner Join) and the others options (Left Semi Join), and JOIN can give more results than IN or EXISTS if the relationship is 1:0..N and not 1:0..1. And if I try use NOT IN and NOT EXISTS the query plan is different from LEFT JOIN too (Left Anti Semi Join vs. Left Outer Join + Filter). So, I found a case where EXISTS has a different query plan than IN or ANY/SOME:” USE AdventureWorks GO -- use of SOME SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE E.EmployeeID = SOME ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA UNION ALL SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeDepartmentHistory EA ) -- use of IN SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE E.EmployeeID IN ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA UNION ALL SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeDepartmentHistory EA ) -- use of EXISTS SELECT * FROM HumanResources.Employee E WHERE EXISTS ( SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeAddress EA UNION ALL SELECT EA.EmployeeID FROM HumanResources.EmployeeDepartmentHistory EA ) When looked into execution plan of the queries listed above indeed we do get different plans for queries and SQL Server Engines creates the best (least cost) plan for each query. Click on image to see larger images. Thanks Paulo for your wonderful contribution. Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, Readers Contribution, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Joins, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Standard Reports from SQL Server Management Studio – SQL in Sixty Seconds #016 – Video

  - by pinaldave

  SQL Server management Studio 2012 is wonderful tool and has many different features. Many times, an average user does not use them as they are not aware about these features. Today, we will learn one such feature. SSMS comes with many inbuilt performance and activity reports, but we do not use it to the full potential. Connect to SQL Server Node >> Right Click on it >> Go to Reports >> Click on Standard Reports >> Pick Any Report. Please note that some of the reports can be IO intensive and not suggested to run during business hours! More on Standard Reports: SQL SERVER – Out of the Box – Activity and Performance Reports from SSSMS SQL SERVER – Generate Report for Index Physical Statistics – SSMS SQL SERVER – Configure Management Data Collection in Quick Steps I encourage you to submit your ideas for SQL in Sixty Seconds. We will try to accommodate as many as we can. If we like your idea we promise to share with you educational material. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Database, Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL in Sixty Seconds, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology, Video

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• SQL SERVER – Activity Monitor and Performance Issue

  - by pinaldave

  We had wonderful SQLAuthority News – Community Tech Days – December 11, 2010 event yesterday. After the event, we had meeting among Jacob Sebastian, Vinod Kumar, Rushabh Mehta and myself. We all were sharing our experience about performance tuning consultations. During the conversation, Jacob has shared wonderful story of his recent observation. The story is very small but the moral of the story is very important. The story is about a client, who had continuously performance issues. Client used Activity Monitor (Read More: SQL SERVER – 2008 – Location of Activity Monitor – Where is SQL Serve Activity Monitor Located) to check the performance issues. The pattern of the performance issues was very much common all the time. Every time, after a while the computer stopped responding. After doing in-depth performance analysis, Jacob realized that client once opened activity monitor never closed it. The same activity monitor itself is very expensive process. The tool, which helped to debug the performance issues, also helped (negatively) to bring down the server. After closing the activity monitor which was open for long time, the server did not have performance issues. Moral of the story: Activity Monitor is great tool but use it with care and close it when not needed. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Best Practices, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Optimization, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant V6.0 Released

  - by Pinal Dave

  Every company makes a different decision about the database when they start, but as they move forward they mature and make the decision which is based on their experience and best interest of the organization. Similarly, quite a many organizations make different decisions on database, like Sybase, MySQL, Oracle or Access and as time passes by they learn that now they want to move to a different platform. Microsoft makes it easy for SQL Server professional by releasing various Migration Assistant tools. Last week, Microsoft released Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0. Here are different tools released earlier last week to migrate various product to SQL Server. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0 for Sybase SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) is a free supported tool from Microsoft that simplifies database migration process from Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) to SQL Server and Azure SQL DB. SSMA automates all aspects of migration including migration assessment analysis, schema and SQL statement conversion, data migration as well as migration testing. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0 for MySQL SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) is a free supported tool from Microsoft that simplifies database migration process from MySQL to SQL Server and Azure SQL DB. SSMA automates all aspects of migration including migration assessment analysis, schema and SQL statement conversion, data migration as well as migration testing. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0 for Oracle SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) is a free supported tool from Microsoft that simplifies database migration process from Oracle to SQL Server and Azure SQL DB. SSMA automates all aspects of migration including migration assessment analysis, schema and SQL statement conversion, data migration as well as migration testing. Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant v6.0 for Access SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA) is a free supported tool from Microsoft that simplifies database migration process from Access to SQL Server. SSMA for Access automates conversion of Microsoft Access database objects to SQL Server database objects, loads the objects into SQL Server and Azure SQL DB, and then migrates data from Microsoft Access to SQL Server and Azure SQL DB. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL Tagged: SQL Migration

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• SQL SERVER – Concat Function in SQL Server – SQL Concatenation

  - by pinaldave

  Earlier this week, I was delivering Advanced BI training on the subject of “SQL Server 2008 R2″. I had great time delivering the session. During the session, we talked about SQL Server 2010 Denali. Suddenly one of the attendees suggested his displeasure for the product. He said, even though, SQL Server is now in moving very fast and have proved many times a good enterprise solution, it does not have some basic functions. I naturally asked him for example and he suggested CONCAT() which exists in MySQL and Oracle. The answer is very simple – the equalent function in SQL Server to CONCAT() is ‘+’ (plus operator without quotes). Method 1: Concatenating two strings SELECT 'FirstName' + ' ' + 'LastName' AS FullName Method 2: Concatenating two Numbers SELECT CAST(1 AS VARCHAR(10)) + 'R' + CAST(2 AS VARCHAR(10)) Method 3: Concatenating values from table columns SELECT FirstName + ' ' + LastName FROM AdventureWorks.Person.Contact Well, this may look very simple but sometime it is very difficult to find the information for simple things only. Do you have any such example which you would like to share with community? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL String, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Three Posts on Reporting – T-SQL Tuesday #005

  - by pinaldave

  If you are following my blog, you already know that I am more of “T-SQL and Performance Tuning” type of person. I do have a good understanding of Business Intelligence suit and I also do certain training sessions on the same subject. When I was writing the blog post for T-SQL Tuesday #005 – Reporting, I realized that I have written a post that clearly explains how to generate reports using SQL Server Management Studio. Here is a quick recap on how one can use SSMS and out-of-the-box reports which can help many developers. Please note that they can be resource-intensive as well, so please use SSMS carefully. SQL SERVER – Generate Report for Index Physical Statistics – SSMS SQL SERVER – Out of the Box – Activity and Performance Reports from SSSMS SQL SERVER – Configure Management Data Collection in Quick Steps – T-SQL Tuesday #005 Junior developers and DBA can use these reports right away and can also start learning and exploring most database performance issues with the help of Sr. DBAs. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Performance, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology Tagged: SQL Reporting, SQL Reports

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• SQLAuthority News – Pinal Dave: Blogger, MVP and now Interviewee by Michael J Swart

  - by pinaldave

  Michael J. Swart is a very unique person. I have often exchanged emails with him and also used a couple of his scripts in my presentations (with his permission). Every time I conduct spatial database presentation, I always start with his script where he has drawn the wonderful image of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. I often think he is more of a creative artist than IT professional. However, if you read his blog posts and articles, they are top notch and each article is as creative as his caricatures. He is wonderful, inspiring, creative and most importantly, very humble. He recently took my interview and asked me some very interesting question. To answer his question, I had to share some of the interesting aspects of my life which I have had never shared in any interview before. He made me share the following interesting facts. Pinal Dave Caricatures Read my Interview Here are a few questions that I have answered at his blog: How I met my wife? Best moments of my life? How to pronounce my last name? Who inspired me? English as a Third Language. I am also thankful to Michael for drawing my caricature. I really liked it and I am very glad that he took time to do so. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: About Me, Pinal Dave, PostADay, Readers Question, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQL SERVER – Installing AdventureWorks for SQL Server 2011

  - by pinaldave

  I just began with SQL Server 2011 Denali CTP1. The very first thing, I realized that there is no AdventureWorks Sample Database available for Denali. I quickly searched online and reached to Microsoft documentations where it provides information of the how to install (restore) AdventureWorks for SQL Server 2011 for Denali. Download the AdventureWorks from here. Run following script (replace your path of mdf file. CREATE DATABASE AdventureWorks2008R2 ON (FILENAME = 'C:\SQL 11 CTP1\CTP1\AdventureWorks2008R2_Data.mdf') FOR ATTACH_REBUILD_LOG ; When you run above script it will give you following message and you are DONE! File activation failure. The physical file name "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL11.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\DATA\AdventureWorks2008R2_Log.ldf" may be incorrect. New log file 'C:\SQL 11 CTP1\CTP1\AdventureWorks2008R2_log.ldf' was created. Converting database 'AdventureWorks2008R2' from version 679 to the current version 684. Database 'AdventureWorks2008R2' running the upgrade step from version 679 to version 680. Database 'AdventureWorks2008R2' running the upgrade step from version 680 to version 681. Database 'AdventureWorks2008R2' running the upgrade step from version 681 to version 682. Database 'AdventureWorks2008R2' running the upgrade step from version 682 to version 683. Database 'AdventureWorks2008R2' running the upgrade step from version 683 to version 684. I will soon write my experience about Denali. However, SQL Server Management Studio more started to look a like Visual Studio. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Backup and Restore, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Statistics Used by the Query Optimizer in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 – Microsoft Whitepaper

  - by pinaldave

  I recently presented session on Statistics and Best Practices in Virtual Tech Days on Nov 22, 2010. The sessions was very popular and I got many questions right after the sessions. The number question I had received was where everybody can get the further information. I am very much happy that my sessions created some curiosity for one of the most important feature of the SQL Server. Statistics are the heart of the SQL Server. Microsoft has published a white paper on the subject how statistics are useful to Query Optimizer. Here is the abstract of the same white paper from Microsoft. Statistics Used by the Query Optimizer in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Writer: Eric N. Hanson and Yavor Angelov Microsoft SQL Server 2008 collects statistical information about indexes and column data stored in the database. These statistics are used by the SQL Server query optimizer to choose the most efficient plan for retrieving or updating data. This paper describes what data is collected, where it is stored, and which commands create, update, and delete statistics. By default, SQL Server 2008 also creates and updates statistics automatically, when such an operation is considered to be useful. This paper also outlines how these defaults can be changed on different levels (column, table, and database). In addition, it presents how certain query language features, such as Transact-SQL variables, interact with use of statistics by the optimizer, and it provides guidance for using these features when writing queries so you can obtain good query performance. Link to white paper Statistics Used by the Query Optimizer in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 ?Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)   Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQL White Papers, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – Spot the SQLAuthority Baby Contest – SQL Server Cheat Sheet

  - by pinaldave

  Last Year during the TechEd India 2009 SQL Server Cheat Sheets were instant hit. Yesterday when I announce that I am going to attend TechED India 2010 at Bangalore, I received many requests for the same. I have only 30 copies available at this moment.  I will print more copies of the same after this event. For the moment I am going to run quick content to win SQL Server Cheat Sheet during this event. The contest is very simple. My 7 months old daughter will join me in this trip. She will be staying with me in the same hotel where the event is organized. Here is the detail for contest: Contest: If you Spot SQLAuthority Baby, get one SQL Server Cheat Sheet. Rules: Every hour the first person to spot SQLAuthority Baby will get 1 SQL Server Cheat Sheet. If you spot her and the hourly SQL Server Cheat Sheet is given away, you still have chance to get a copy. Drop your business card or email address and we will contact you for your copy. SQLAuthority Baby is very easy to spot. Shaivi Dave If you are not attending this event and want copy, you can easily download the same from link below. Download SQL Server Cheat Sheet from here. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: MVP, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology Tagged: SQL Cheat Sheet, TechEd, TechEdIn

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• SQL SERVER – Find Max Worker Count using DMV – 32 Bit and 64 Bit

  - by pinaldave

  During several recent training courses, I found it very interesting that Worker Thread is not quite known to everyone despite the fact that it is a very important feature. At some point in the discussion, one of the attendees mentioned that we can double the Worker Thread if we double the CPU (add the same number of CPU that we have on current system). The same discussion has triggered this quick article. Here is the DMV which can be used to find out Max Worker Count SELECT max_workers_count FROM sys.dm_os_sys_info Let us run the above query on my system and find the results. As my system is 32 bit and I have two CPU, the Max Worker Count is displayed as 512. To address the previous discussion, adding more CPU does not necessarily double the Worker Count. In fact, the logic behind this simple principle is as follows: For x86 (32-bit) upto 4 logical processors  max worker threads = 256 For x86 (32-bit) more than 4 logical processors  max worker threads = 256 + ((# Procs – 4) * 8) For x64 (64-bit) upto 4 logical processors  max worker threads = 512 For x64 (64-bit) more than 4 logical processors  max worker threads = 512+ ((# Procs – 4) * 8) In addition to this, you can configure the Max Worker Thread by using SSMS. Go to Server Node >> Right Click and Select Property >> Select Process and modify setting under Worker Threads. According to Book On Line, the default Worker Thread settings are appropriate for most of the systems. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL System Table, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology Tagged: SQL DMV

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• SQL SERVER – What is AdventureWorks?

  - by pinaldave

  NOTE: If you know the answer of this question, then I request you to stop reading this post right now. Please do not leave comment about this blog post not being useful to you, if you knew the answer. Few days ago, I received DM asking What is an AdventureWorks database and why in all the examples I use that instead of any other database (e.g. Pubs or  Northwind)? As matter of fact, when I went back to my question list, which I have yet not answered, there were a few more variations of this same question. AdventureWorks is a Sample Database shipped with SQL Server and it can be downloaded from http://codeplex.com site. AdventureWorks has replaced Northwind and Pubs from the sample database in SQL Server 2005. The Microsoft team keeps updating the sample database as they release new versions. Here are some quick links: AdventureWorks SQL Server 2008 SR4 AdventureWorks 2008R2 November CTP AdventureWorks for SQL Azure (December CTP) AventureWorks for SQL Server 2005 SP2A SQL SERVER – 2008 – Download and Install Samples Database AdventureWorks 2005 – Detail Tutorial I have previously written few other articles on the same subject; you can find them easily here: [email protected] Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Documentation, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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• SQLAuthority News – SQL Server Cheat Sheet from MidnightDBA

  - by pinaldave

  When I read the article from MidnightDBA (I should say MidnightDBAs because it is about Jen and Sean) regarding T-SQL for the Absentminded DBA, my natural reaction was that it is a perfect extension. A year ago around the same month, I had created SQL Server Cheatsheet. I have distributed a lot of copies of it since I produced it. In fact, while attending TechMela in Nepal today, I am getting many requests to get copies of SQL Server Cheatsheet. When I checked my RSS feed, I realized that Jen and Sean have a perfect cheat sheet for intermediate level developers. I would like to suggest to all of you to read their post and download the Absentminded DBA’s Cheat Sheet for IntermediateTSQL. It is available in two formats: PDF and Docx. I just love how the members of the community help each other grow. I am fortunate that I have received excellent feedback/corrections and criticism on my blog posts for so many times. Criticism and corrections, after all, are absolutely needed and make a better community as a whole. Reference : Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: MVP, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Download, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology Tagged: SQL Cheat Sheet

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