Are the posted questions getting worse?

  • Lynn Pettis (10/1/2015)


    In my Deadlock thread, was I wrong to admonish the former MVP over his first post? It just hit me wrong.

    I think it was on the overreacting side, better to simply explain the restrictions if the advice given isn't applicable.

    😎

  • That's two against and one for (me). I'm not going to apologize, though. He makes that same comment in many posts where there is code like that in our system and it drives me nuts but I usually stay calm. I've been working with SQL Server for nearly 20 years, and that comment to me just hit wrong and really didn't have anything to do with the deadlock issue.

    In our test environment to value so far is never null. I haven't had a chance to check a production database in our lab yet. If the column is never null, then why did the developer even do it? If it does have nulls, I know why the developer probably did it that way, they don't know better because they didn't have someone like me to check their code during a code review. Sad part is they still don't have me sanity check any SQL code they write. This application was already five years old before they hired their first database professional (not me). They did have one briefly in Iraq, but from what I learned, he was quickly let go because he really didn't know what he was doing.

    I'd shown Wayne the deadlock earlier and he simply suggested changing the code. No admonishment to NEVER do things that way. Not a problem. Just explained that it wasn't option at this time.

  • I love the code that looks like this:

    WHERE ISNULL(SomeColumn,'') > ''

    Uh, this would also work:

    WHERE SomeColumn > ''

    Same issue, though, getting them to make the changes in the application code base.

  • Lynn Pettis (10/2/2015)


    I love the code that looks like this:

    WHERE ISNULL(SomeColumn,'') > ''

    Uh, this would also work:

    WHERE SomeColumn > ''

    Same issue, though, getting them to make the changes in the application code base.

    I've seen it a lot like this:

    ISNULL(SomeColumn,0) = 0

    In most cases to avoid division by zero errors and in this case I think it's legit.

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

  • dwain.c (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Oh, and maple beer - yuck.

    This made me spill my ESB all over the Pub lunch

    😎

    Where have you found ESB on draught?

    The Ale&Pie on High Holborn, next to my office

    😎

    Live 5 minutes from Chiswick so there is no shortage in the locals either.

    The Melton Mowbray? Haven't been in there for a while. The nearest gig was a telecoms company in Red Lion Square, maybe 12 years ago. We used to have Friday afternoon meetings in the Dolphin πŸ˜‰

    Edit: High Holborn is a mile from where I currently work.

    Good catch Chris, yes that's the one.

    So working only 10 minutes away from each other, where and when are we going to meet?

    😎

    There are two pubs almost opposite each other on Tottenham Court Road about 150 yards up from TCR tube station. One of them's called the Jack Horner. The one on the west side does amazing pies, the one on the east side has exceptional ESB. You choose πŸ™‚

    The Rising Sun and Jack Horner, not "too" unfamiliar πŸ˜‰

    Lets make it Jack Horner, now the question is when?

    😎

    That's them! The Rising Sun has the pies πŸ™‚

    Late next week - lunchtime or a couple of pints after work?

    Thursday next week, Pie lunch in the Rising Sun, my treat

    😎

    Followed by a pint in the Jack Horner, my treat πŸ™‚

    That's a "meal deal" then

    😎

    Please do at least one wrist curl for me as my spirit will be with you!

    Funny you should say that Dwain - we're only meeting up to talk about you!

    β€œWrite the query the simplest way. If through testing it becomes clear that the performance is inadequate, consider alternative query forms.” - Gail Shaw

    For fast, accurate and documented assistance in answering your questions, please read this article.
    Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
    Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden

  • Does anybody know anything about this lot? I've had that rarest of things, a useful Groupon offer arrive and I'm thinking of taking it up. I thought it might be worth checking if it was worth it first though. The offer price is very good so unless there's serious negative responses I'll probably go for it anyway but that's not to say I'm committed yet.


    On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.
    β€”Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher

    How to post a question to get the most help http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Best+Practices/61537

  • ChrisM@Work (10/2/2015)


    dwain.c (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Oh, and maple beer - yuck.

    This made me spill my ESB all over the Pub lunch

    😎

    Where have you found ESB on draught?

    The Ale&Pie on High Holborn, next to my office

    😎

    Live 5 minutes from Chiswick so there is no shortage in the locals either.

    The Melton Mowbray? Haven't been in there for a while. The nearest gig was a telecoms company in Red Lion Square, maybe 12 years ago. We used to have Friday afternoon meetings in the Dolphin πŸ˜‰

    Edit: High Holborn is a mile from where I currently work.

    Good catch Chris, yes that's the one.

    So working only 10 minutes away from each other, where and when are we going to meet?

    😎

    There are two pubs almost opposite each other on Tottenham Court Road about 150 yards up from TCR tube station. One of them's called the Jack Horner. The one on the west side does amazing pies, the one on the east side has exceptional ESB. You choose πŸ™‚

    The Rising Sun and Jack Horner, not "too" unfamiliar πŸ˜‰

    Lets make it Jack Horner, now the question is when?

    😎

    That's them! The Rising Sun has the pies πŸ™‚

    Late next week - lunchtime or a couple of pints after work?

    Thursday next week, Pie lunch in the Rising Sun, my treat

    😎

    Followed by a pint in the Jack Horner, my treat πŸ™‚

    That's a "meal deal" then

    😎

    Please do at least one wrist curl for me as my spirit will be with you!

    Funny you should say that Dwain - we're only meeting up to talk about you!

    Chris, how did Dwain figure that one out:-D

    😎

  • BWFC (10/2/2015)


    Does anybody know anything about this lot? I've had that rarest of things, a useful Groupon offer arrive and I'm thinking of taking it up. I thought it might be worth checking if it was worth it first though. The offer price is very good so unless there's serious negative responses I'll probably go for it anyway but that's not to say I'm committed yet.

    never heard of them.. Personally I would go to plural sight.

  • Eirikur Eiriksson (10/2/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/2/2015)


    dwain.c (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Eirikur Eiriksson (10/1/2015)


    ChrisM@Work (10/1/2015)


    Oh, and maple beer - yuck.

    This made me spill my ESB all over the Pub lunch

    😎

    Where have you found ESB on draught?

    The Ale&Pie on High Holborn, next to my office

    😎

    Live 5 minutes from Chiswick so there is no shortage in the locals either.

    The Melton Mowbray? Haven't been in there for a while. The nearest gig was a telecoms company in Red Lion Square, maybe 12 years ago. We used to have Friday afternoon meetings in the Dolphin πŸ˜‰

    Edit: High Holborn is a mile from where I currently work.

    Good catch Chris, yes that's the one.

    So working only 10 minutes away from each other, where and when are we going to meet?

    😎

    There are two pubs almost opposite each other on Tottenham Court Road about 150 yards up from TCR tube station. One of them's called the Jack Horner. The one on the west side does amazing pies, the one on the east side has exceptional ESB. You choose πŸ™‚

    The Rising Sun and Jack Horner, not "too" unfamiliar πŸ˜‰

    Lets make it Jack Horner, now the question is when?

    😎

    That's them! The Rising Sun has the pies πŸ™‚

    Late next week - lunchtime or a couple of pints after work?

    Thursday next week, Pie lunch in the Rising Sun, my treat

    😎

    Followed by a pint in the Jack Horner, my treat πŸ™‚

    That's a "meal deal" then

    😎

    Please do at least one wrist curl for me as my spirit will be with you!

    Funny you should say that Dwain - we're only meeting up to talk about you!

    Chris, how did Dwain figure that one out:-D

    😎

    DBCC TIMEWARP. He's about to blog on it. If you look through your posting history, you reviewed the blog last December :hehe:

    β€œWrite the query the simplest way. If through testing it becomes clear that the performance is inadequate, consider alternative query forms.” - Gail Shaw

    For fast, accurate and documented assistance in answering your questions, please read this article.
    Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
    Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden

  • Greg Edwards-268690 (10/1/2015)


    Brandie Tarvin (10/1/2015)


    BrainDonor (10/1/2015)


    BL0B_EATER (10/1/2015)


    Talking about pork products, any one understand Sausage with Maple? I don't..

    I've been to Canada more times than I can recall - maple with pretty much anything. Maple with pork products is amazing. Maple tea, not so much.

    Some days I wish I lived in a maple-tapping state. I would love to do some tapping.

    More than just Maple trees are good for syrup.

    Takes quite awhile to boil down.

    Done this with both a cooker - about 4' x 8' and a huge old kettle.

    Learned whisking with a pine bough tames down the foam when boiling.

    Plan on several days from start to finished product.

    Also up here it can be somewhat of a gamble as to when the sap is running good.

    Yeah, but the sap never gets running good down here, where it never gets cold enough.

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • Brandie Tarvin (10/2/2015)


    Greg Edwards-268690 (10/1/2015)


    Brandie Tarvin (10/1/2015)


    BrainDonor (10/1/2015)


    BL0B_EATER (10/1/2015)


    Talking about pork products, any one understand Sausage with Maple? I don't..

    I've been to Canada more times than I can recall - maple with pretty much anything. Maple with pork products is amazing. Maple tea, not so much.

    Some days I wish I lived in a maple-tapping state. I would love to do some tapping.

    More than just Maple trees are good for syrup.

    Takes quite awhile to boil down.

    Done this with both a cooker - about 4' x 8' and a huge old kettle.

    Learned whisking with a pine bough tames down the foam when boiling.

    Plan on several days from start to finished product.

    Also up here it can be somewhat of a gamble as to when the sap is running good.

    Yeah, but the sap never gets running good down here, where it never gets cold enough.

    Spread your wings Brandie! You're limiting yourself to foodstuffs when with this you could be making wings!

    β€œWrite the query the simplest way. If through testing it becomes clear that the performance is inadequate, consider alternative query forms.” - Gail Shaw

    For fast, accurate and documented assistance in answering your questions, please read this article.
    Understanding and using APPLY, (I) and (II) Paul White
    Hidden RBAR: Triangular Joins / The "Numbers" or "Tally" Table: What it is and how it replaces a loop Jeff Moden

  • ChrisM@Work (10/2/2015)


    Brandie Tarvin (10/2/2015)


    Greg Edwards-268690 (10/1/2015)


    Brandie Tarvin (10/1/2015)


    BrainDonor (10/1/2015)


    BL0B_EATER (10/1/2015)


    Talking about pork products, any one understand Sausage with Maple? I don't..

    I've been to Canada more times than I can recall - maple with pretty much anything. Maple with pork products is amazing. Maple tea, not so much.

    Some days I wish I lived in a maple-tapping state. I would love to do some tapping.

    More than just Maple trees are good for syrup.

    Takes quite awhile to boil down.

    Done this with both a cooker - about 4' x 8' and a huge old kettle.

    Learned whisking with a pine bough tames down the foam when boiling.

    Plan on several days from start to finished product.

    Also up here it can be somewhat of a gamble as to when the sap is running good.

    Yeah, but the sap never gets running good down here, where it never gets cold enough.

    Spread your wings Brandie! You're limiting yourself to foodstuffs when with this you could be making wings!

    That's pretty awesome.

    Brandie Tarvin, MCITP Database AdministratorLiveJournal Blog: http://brandietarvin.livejournal.com/[/url]On LinkedIn!, Google+, and Twitter.Freelance Writer: ShadowrunLatchkeys: Nevermore, Latchkeys: The Bootleg War, and Latchkeys: Roscoes in the Night are now available on Nook and Kindle.

  • Lynn Pettis (10/2/2015)


    That's two against and one for (me). I'm not going to apologize, though. He makes that same comment in many posts where there is code like that in our system and it drives me nuts but I usually stay calm. I've been working with SQL Server for nearly 20 years, and that comment to me just hit wrong and really didn't have anything to do with the deadlock issue.

    In our test environment to value so far is never null. I haven't had a chance to check a production database in our lab yet. If the column is never null, then why did the developer even do it? If it does have nulls, I know why the developer probably did it that way, they don't know better because they didn't have someone like me to check their code during a code review. Sad part is they still don't have me sanity check any SQL code they write. This application was already five years old before they hired their first database professional (not me). They did have one briefly in Iraq, but from what I learned, he was quickly let go because he really didn't know what he was doing.

    I'd shown Wayne the deadlock earlier and he simply suggested changing the code. No admonishment to NEVER do things that way. Not a problem. Just explained that it wasn't option at this time.

    Working for the same employer you do, I believe, the no code review is par for the course. Generally "fixing" something like that for me works out to getting in touch with the Dev (if possible,) and making suggestions. Sometimes, especially if it will improve things, they'll toss the change into QA to check it, and eventually it makes it to production. Other times it's one of those "it's working, it's not really a problem, and I don't have time to muck with it" and as long as the second part is true for them and me, I let it go.

    You gotta know when to pick a fight, and when to let it go and just buy a drink...

  • Lynn Pettis (10/1/2015)


    In my Deadlock thread, was I wrong to admonish the former MVP over his first post? It just hit me wrong.

    I thought so... the first sentence is fine, the second is where I feel you went to far. It just wasn't necessary.

    Wayne
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008
    Author - SQL Server T-SQL Recipes


    If you can't explain to another person how the code that you're copying from the internet works, then DON'T USE IT on a production system! After all, you will be the one supporting it!
    Links:
    For better assistance in answering your questions
    Performance Problems
    Common date/time routines
    Understanding and Using APPLY Part 1 & Part 2

  • Lynn Pettis (10/2/2015)


    I love the code that looks like this:

    WHERE ISNULL(SomeColumn,'') > ''

    What I love is when SomeColumn is defined as NOT NULL

    Wayne
    Microsoft Certified Master: SQL Server 2008
    Author - SQL Server T-SQL Recipes


    If you can't explain to another person how the code that you're copying from the internet works, then DON'T USE IT on a production system! After all, you will be the one supporting it!
    Links:
    For better assistance in answering your questions
    Performance Problems
    Common date/time routines
    Understanding and Using APPLY Part 1 & Part 2

Viewing 15 posts - 50,881 through 50,895 (of 66,738 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply