This is a really nice article, but it's a bit scary. Suppose AI generated a script but didn't "know" that a division by 0 could occur since no training example...

For ten years I've used this site to publish articles about interesting problems I've worked on as a consultant.

Interviewers for new opportunities generally acknowledge this work, so they already have...

Thank you for this.

I didn't know that the function mimimal_path even existed.

Presumably it uses Dijkstra.

I've not used minimal paths before, but suddenly I needed it for a large HR project...

You're absolutely correct.

I should have said:

"For example, C -> D -> B -> A cannot have a lower cost since the cost of D -> B -> A can’t be...

Interesting

I've never heard of SQLFacts - thank you for exposing it.

Thank you everybody for your helpful comments.

A little context here.

As a database consultant I was asked by my client to perform a merge on 27 tables, one of which had...

Hello Ruedifuchs,

Thank you for your comments.

Unless I've misunderstood comment 2) it is possible to SELECT statements in @DML that return results, eg.

DECLARE @ERROR_NUMBER INT

DECLARE @ERROR_MESSAGE VARCHAR(MAX)

DECLARE @Row_Count INT

EXEC...

The attached file contains a print-ready copy of this article in PDF format along with the listing of the stored procedure.

Thank you Alan.

As noted above, I've attached the article in PDF format (no ads) to improve the layout of the tables.

A copy of this article is attached in PDF format, along with the resource section.

Congratulations skeleton567 on your seniority in programming! Have you worked on mainframes?

In my opinion there are two basic skills needed in programming SQL (or any other language): mechanical and engineering.

The...

You can avoid MERGE in some cases:

https://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/how-to-avoid-merge-in-sql-server

"No one will drive us from the paradise which Cantor created for us"

David Hilbert

1925

Cantor's work in set theory was a stunning development, but so was mathematical logic.

Did you know that...

Nice article.