I see a lot of people suggest while loops instead of cursors in situations where row-based processing is required (or, at least, where folks think that row-based processing is required). Sometimes the justification is that constructing a while loop is simpler and more straightforward than constructing a cursor. Others suggest […]
I see a lot of people getting really excited. There is a "virtual launch event" for SQL Server 2012 being held on March 7, 2012. You can read more about the event at http://sqlserverlaunch.com/. Let me throw out a dose of reality: if you are not on a TAP or […]
This one is quite subjective, and I'm sure I will face plenty of opposition – not only because it's a preference thing and many people are married to their preferences, but also because it violates the strict interpretation of the standard. Personally, I'm more worried about the former than the […]
My favorite blog post Picking favorites is never easy. While I definitely feel like I had some more thought-provoking, controversial and laborious blog posts, my favorite would have to be my summary of 18456 errors: /blogs/aaron_bertrand/archive/2011/01/14/sql-server-v-next-denali-additional-states-for-error-18456.aspx When I initially wrote that post, it started as a quick listing of the […]
On Monday, I completely missed that the SQL Server Release Services team published two cumulative updates for SQL Server 2008. I'd blame jury duty, but that didn't start until Tuesday, and only lasted two days. Well, better late than never. Cumulative Update #8 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 […]
First of all, I want to congratulate both Kendal van Dyke (@SQLDBA) and James Rowland-Jones (@jrowlandjones) on their recent appointment to the PASS Board of Directors. I have no doubt they will go above and beyond to fulfill their duties and represent the SQL Server community at large. Some others […]
This month's T-SQL Tuesday is being hosted by Dave Howard (@DaveH0ward), and the topic is "Second Chances." What he's letting us do is look back at all the previous T-SQL Tuesdays and pick a topic that we missed or maybe thought we needed another crack at. I chose a recent […]
Hide databases from users who shouldn't be able to see them This is a long-standing request from Erland Sommarskog which I've highlighted in previous digests. But the underlying problem keeps coming up in multiple venues, so I thought it would be good to call attention to the item one more […]
I've seen the question a few times now: "How do I compare two plans side-by-side in Plan Explorer?" Management Studio allows you to view multiple graphical plans that are visible simultaneously, either by generating plans for every statement in a batch, or by generating plans in separate query windows and […]