Category: SQL Server

After a question on #sqlhelp, I dug into what could be making sys.partitions slow, and how they might get the required information in a more efficient way.

A security fix for an elevation of privilege issue has been released for all supported versions of SQL Server.

I explain a recent case where sp_prepare came in handy: trying to validate a plan guide's impact.

I recently came across an interesting issue with CHECKDB snapshots, as well as a bit of information missing from the documentation.

More background on ParamParser, some recent changes, and several syntax examples.

I've made the GitHub repository for ParamParser public; here is some more background behind this project.

I've started a new project to parse default values from stored procedures and functions.

If you ever use sys.sp_columns as shorthand for catalog views, please don't, and I'll tell you why.

Altering a fixed-width column on a large table can often mean either a lot of planning or a lot of downtime, but in some scenarios there may be an easy out.

We had a case where we increased a varchar column's size, ONLINE, but it caused significant downstream effects. See why.

There are some limitations with STRING_SPLIT that could be overcome, but the cleanest solution might be to add a new function altogether.

Find out about the replacement I wrote for the undocumented, unsupported, and ill-advised system procedure, sp_MSforeachdb.