Generate a random number of children for each parent

I was asked an interesting question the other day.
Is it possible to get a different random number of rows...

What is the Object Explorer Details tab good for?

For a long time there I would see the Object Explorer Details tab show up when I opened SSMS (SQL...

Highlighting sp_spaceused

I’ve been using sp_spaceused a lot recently so I thought I would bring it up again. Basically it’s a quick...

Which is faster? IN (list) or IN (SELECT FROM Temp)

If you’ve done much with IN (list) then you’ve realized that it basically translates out to
col=val1 OR col=val2 OR...

Letting the business bully you: T-SQL Tuesday #107

Before I start anything I want go give a disclaimer. I absolutely believe that the business should be involved in...

Data Types Word Search

Just for fun here is a word search with all of the data types available in SQL Server. Well, two...

SQL Homework – October 2018 – Time for an upgrade

When you created your home lab last September you probably installed a version of SQL 2016. Well, SQL 2017 was...

You can’t DELETE TOP (x) with an ORDER BY

Did you know you can’t do this?
DELETE TOP (10)
FROM SalesOrderDetail
ORDER BY SalesOrderID DESC;Msg 156, Level 15, State 1, Line 8

Incorrect...

Escaping strings

No, I’m not talking about that nightmare everyone has where a bunch of strings are chasing you across a loom.
Not...

Using Table Valued Parameters with sp_executesql

Recently I did a presentation on dynamic SQL. In the presentation I pointed out the similarity of using sp_executesql to...