Example 1:

When you use a SELECT statement in an INSERT the two tables must have compatible structures. If all of the columns are compatible in the same order that they...

For the basics:

Practical SQL by Bowman

Advanced:

The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL by Ken Henderson is always open on my desk.

SQL For Smarties by Joe Celko

Database Design is another issue. I...

I have used Embarcadero ER/Studio in several locations for years. It is very good. I have used ERwin once, but was not impressed.

From BOL (ALTER TABLE)

The altered column cannot be:

A column with a text, image, ntext, or timestamp data type.

You should consider copying the data to a temp table, dropping and...

I agree with Frank -

Do not switch back and forth between Unicode and ANSI. You may find yourself losing data if, for example, someone has more than 4,000 characters...

There are some very good articles here and elsewhere about why you should not create monolithic tables - 'Lookup Table Madness' from Sept comes to mind. There are also some...

A row with variable-length columns requires special offset entries in order to be internally maintained. These entries keep track of the actual length of the column. Calculating and maintaining the...

You might try ApexSQLEdit. You can find free copies of it on the Net - there are nag screens but they can be ignored.

From BOL:

When xp_cmdshell is invoked by a user who is a member of the sysadmin fixed server role, xp_cmdshell will be executed under the security context in which the SQL...

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/productdoc/2000/books.asp

This should help.

Laughing. I am soooo glad I have 600+ posts before I have to worry about finding a photo that doesn't stop a clock.

We have a "dumb" report writer system. It requires inner joins for everything. For a group of users I had to create crosstab tables. Do a search on pivot tables...

Sorry, but in SQL2000 you have to be a sysadmin to run trace procs.

This is a change from SQL7 where you could grant exec on the extended

stored procedures

Be aware that you are violating one of the basics of relational tables - a key is a value or a combination of values that is unique for every row....

Oh, jumped the question. Yes, you will have to redo the foreign keys.