In this tip, I talk about a slightly more flexible way to simulate TRY_CONVERT() on unsupported versions of SQL Server.

If you are still stuck on an unsupported version of SQL Server, there may still be a way for you to have TRY_CONVERT() functionality.

Microsoft has released the final Service Pack (SP4) for SQL Server 2008. Build # 10.00.6000 KB Article: KB #2979596 (Download) 6 public fixes, including important security fixes from MS14-044 Relevant for builds < 10.00.6000...

Microsoft has released the final Cumulative Update (#17) for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3. Build # 10.00.5861 KB Article: KB #2958696 9 public fixes Relevant for builds 10.00.5500 -> 10.00.5860 NOT for SQL...

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 Cumulative Update #16 Build # 10.00.5852 KB Article: KB #2936421 2 public fixes Relevant for builds 10.00.5500 -> 10.00.5851 NOT for SQL Server 2008 R2...

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 Cumulative Update #15 Build # 10.00.5850 KB Article: KB #2923520 3 public fixes (4 total) Relevant for builds 10.00.5500 -> 10.00.5849 NOT for SQL Server...

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 Cumulative Update #14 Build # 10.00.5848 KB Article: KB #2893410 6 fixes Relevant for builds 10.00.5500 -> 10.00.5847 NOT for SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.xxxx)...

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 Cumulative Update #13 Build # 10.00.5846 KB Article: KB #2880350 2 fixes Relevant for builds 10.00.5500 -> 10.00.5845 NOT for SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.xxxx)...

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 Cumulative Update #12 Build # 10.00.5844 KB Article: KB #2863205 6 fixes Relevant for builds 10.00.5500 -> 10.00.5843 NOT for SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.xxxx)...

Microsoft has released SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 Cumulative Update #11 Build # 10.00.5840 KB Article: KB #2834048 6 fixes Relevant for builds 10.00.5500 -> 10.00.5839 NOT for SQL Server 2008 R2 (10.50.xxxx)...

SQL Server 2012 Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update #3 Build # 11.0.3349 KB Article: KB #2812412 38 fixes! Relevant for builds 11.0.3000 -> 11.0.3348 NOT for SQL Server 2012 RTM (11.0.2100 -> 11.0.2999) SQL...

Today Microsoft has released a new cumulative update for SQL Server 2008 SP3. KB article: KB #2799883 There are three fixes listed at the time of writing The build number is 10.00.5829.00 Relevant for...

Today Microsoft has released a new cumulative update for SQL Server 2008 SP3. KB article: KB #2771833 There are 9 fixes listed at the time of writing The build number is 10.00.5828.00 Relevant for...

Today Microsoft has released a new cumulative update for SQL Server 2008.  Cumulative Update #7 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 3 Knowledge Base Article: KB #2738350 At the time of writing, there are...

Today Microsoft has released two new cumulative updates for SQL Server 2008. Cumulative Update #11 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Knowledge Base Article: KB #2715951 At the time of writing, there are...

Today Microsoft has released two new cumulative updates for SQL Server 2008. Cumulative Update #10 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Knowledge Base Article: KB #2696625 At the time of writing, there is...

SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Cumulative Update #9 KB article : http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2673382 Build number is 10.00.4330 7 fixes (5 in database engine, 2 in SSAS) Relevant for : Builds of SQL Server between...

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...

Very early this morning, Microsoft released two new cumulative updates for the SQL Server 2008 platform. Cumulative Update #7 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 If  SELECT @@VERSION  is between 10.00.4000 and 10.00.4322...

The first cumulative update for SQL Server 2008 SP3 is available. Build number: 10.00.5766 KB Article: KB #2617146 19 fixes  Please note: this update is not for SQL Server 2008 R2 or for SQL...

Today Microsoft released Service Pack 3 for SQL Server 2008. The build number is 10.00.5500. The announcement blog post from SQL Server Release Services team: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlreleaseservices/archive/2011/10/06/sql-server-2008-sp3-is-now-available.aspx List of fixes: KB #2546951 : List of...

Last night, the SQL Server Release Services Team published Cumulative Update #6 for SQL Server 2008 SP2: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2582285 There are 13 fixes listed, and the build # is 10.00.4321. NOTE: This cumulative update is...

This evening Microsoft released cumulative update #16 for SQL Server 2008 SP1: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2582282/ There are only seven fixes listed, and the build # is 10.00.2850. NOTE: This update is NOT for SQL Server 2008...

Yesterday Microsoft made available Community Technology Preview (CTP) of Service Pack 3 for SQL Server 2008. This allows you to test the service pack in your test or QA environments before deploying the eventual...

In addition to SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 CU1, Microsoft today also released cumulative updates for the SQL Server2008 branches (Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2). You can download these updates from the...

Today Microsoft has released cumulative updates for both SQL Server 2008 SP1 and SQL Server 2008 SP2. SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 KB #2527187 : Cumulative Update #14 for SQL Server 2008 Service...

If you are using SQL Server 2008 SP1 or SP2, the release services team yesterday issued cumulative updates for both branches.  (And if you are still on SQL Server 2008 RTM, I can only...

On Monday, the SQL Server Release Services team released cumulative updates for both SQL Server 2008 SP1 and SQL Server 2008 SP2.  The cumulative update for SP2 restores the fixes that were potentially undone...

I'm not going to blab about the speculation, or how Microsoft seems to like making their promised deadlines by the skin of their teeth.  I'm too busy preparing how we're going to deploy and...

Last night Microsoft released Service Pack 1 Cumulative Update #10: KB #2279604 : Cumulative update package 10 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 The build number is 10.00.2799 and there seem to be...

The SQL Server Release Services team recently announced that they have released a new Cumulative Update for SQL Server 2008 SP1: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlreleaseservices/archive/2010/07/19/cumulative-update-9-for-sql-server-2008-service-pack-1.aspx This update will bring you to build 10.00.2789.  From the looks of...

While I don't recommend you rush out and deploy this to your production instances today, it might not be a bad idea to get a head start on testing the fixes in SQL Server...

Well, this is the first time in a long time that I've blogged about cumulative updates for two different versions of SQL Server on the same day.  Yesterday Microsoft released a cumulative update for...

Late last night, the SQL Server Release Services team announced new cumulative updates for both SQL Server 2008 RTM and SQL Server 2008 SP1. There are too many fixes to mention, but I once...

About two months ago, I began planning a cluster migration for one of our primary SQL Server 2005 clusters to newer hardware, and a simultaneous upgrade to SQL Server 2008 SP1.  The old system...

During maintenance windows and against test databases, I have been applying page compression to some largish tables (~200+ million rows, ~50GB).  These tables are heavy write and medium read, but all writes are inserts...

For those of you watching over the past couple of weeks, you may have noticed an out-of-band, mid-CU-cycle update to SQL Server 2008 SP1.  The fix to a cluster issue was available only for...

I posted earlier that the Express Edition of Management Studio for SQL Server 2008 R2 (November CTP) is now available for download. During the first few pages in the setup wizard, I was certain...

Back on September 21/22, Microsoft released its most recent cumulative updates for SQL Server 2008.  For RTM, this was Cumulative Update #7 (10.00.1818), and for SP1, this was Cumulative Update #4 (10.00.2734). However, if...

Yesterday, Microsoft released cumulative updates for SQL Server 2008 RTM and SQL Server 2008 SP1. Cumulative update package 4 for SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973602Build #: 10.00.2734 Cumulative Update 7 package for SQL...

Looks like dozens of fixes for SQL Server 2008 have made their way into another cumulative rollup; CU3 for SP1 (build 2723), and CU6 for RTM (build 1812).  You can get them here: Cumulative...

Well, let me be more precise: there is an updated version of Books Online online.  As reported earlier by Buck Woody, the online version of SQL Server 2008 Books Online has been updated (we...

I finally got around to installing this update today, and thought I would mention a few things. Don't be surprised that "Books Online (May 2009)" actually says "April 2009" in the application's title bar...

Yesterday Microsoft released a new downloadable version of Books Online for SQL Server 2008: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=765433f7-0983-4d7a-b628-0a98145bcb97

Most importantly, this update includes the new trace flag that will allow users running Standard Edition to enable Locked Pages in Memory.  This is a huge win for a lot of customers out there. ...