The March issue of the SQL Server Standard magazine is being printed as you read this, but it is now available as a PDF download for those subscribers in their Virtual Briefcase. This month we look at Transact-SQL in SQL Server 2005 and some of the changes to the language. The editorial below is available for those that want to see what's inside. The magazine should be available shortly on the PASS site as well as the MCP Special Offers page.

If you aren't a subscriber, PASS member, or MCP, you can purchase the PDF of this single issue for $3.99 in our store.

We hope you enjoy it and please feel free to send us some feedback on what you think (webmaster@sqlservercentral.com).

In This Issue

• Editorial : A New Paradigm
• Understanding CLR Integration in SQL Server 2005
• Why CLR Stored Procedures Will Become a Tool You'll Learn to Love
• Performance of PIVOT Operator and CASE/GROUP BY Method
• NULLs and Related Oddities
• Common Table Expressions and Recursion
• Use SQL Server 2005’s OUTPUT Clause to Audit DML Operations
• MAXimum functionality with SQL 2005 Large-Value Data Types and Large Row Support
• Using XML For Analysis With SQL 2005 Analysis Services

Editorial : A New Paradigm

SQL Server 2005 is supposed to deliver a new paradigm for developing applications based on SQL Server. Much of the hope is that integration of the Common Runtime Language (CLR) and the .NET framework along with T-SQL enhancements will dramatically alter the way you develop your next generation of applications.

I am not completely sold that this is a good thing, but I certainly believe that it will change the way applications are developed and DBAs will need to cope with a much wider variety of stored procedures and queries in the next few years. DBAs will need to become more skilled in various programming languages to understand the potential impacts on the database server. This is in addition to the changes that SQL Server brings to T-SQL .

This month we take a look at some of the ways that SQL Server 2005 changes for the DBA. We have a variety of articles on some changes in T-SQL like the addition of the OUTPUT clause, a great way to simplify the auditing capabilities of many applications. There also is the new MAX keyword for large data types. We also take a look at the performance of the new PIVOT function against the traditional CASE and GROUP BY structure. Lastly we have a look at Common Table Expressions (CTEs) by Brian Kelley, our security expert branching out into SQL Server 2005 programming.

We also have a great look at the CLR integration from Chris Hedgate, SQL Server guru from Sweden who has been working with SQL Server 2005 for quite awhile. This is a great introduction to how the CLR works in SQL Server 2005 and the implications and potential issues you will run into with developers looking to add .NET functions to their database queries. Tom Fuller also brings us a pro-CLR article that extols some of the virtues of CLR integration and why you will look forward to working with it.

While there are a number of changes to SQL Server 2005, there are still many features and capabilities that will seem familiar to SQL Server 2000 DBAs. So don’t let all of the changes scare you away from taking a look at this new version. Download the evaluation or install the developer edition and start experimenting.

Steve Jones