Since you're using SQL2012, have you looked at LEAD and LAG?

My first naive stab would be:

;WITH

priors AS (

SELECT

*

,prev = LAG(startTime) OVER (

PARTITION BY userID

ORDER BY startTime

...

I also often have this need (e.g. when I'm running a differential backup scheme and don't want the 'chain' to be broken).

The closest I get to achieving this is to...

I feel like a bit of a troll for this -- I don't mean to be -- but...

I can never truly put my finger on the exact problems I have...

This is...

I might also add that, for FUNCTIONS, given that I like to use inline table functions as much as is reasonable, that I'd probably go with the following:

WITH params AS...

I'm echoing the responses of the others but, if I was working on a database-only solution and didn't have the benefits of a front-end app to manage and supply parameters...

If you don't have the OS privileges to globally edit your Registry, you'll need the assistance of your server administrators. If you can't...

autoexcrement (4/18/2013)

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2) If I end up with a bit field in the names table to indicate a "real" name, what is the best way to enforce a rule that each...

If you want a pure key-value store, have you looked at Redis (http://redis.io)?

It basically responds to commands like:SET key value...andGET key

There is a nice online demo at http://try.redis.io/,...

TL;DR: Use a combination of mirroring and log-shipping, depending on your needs; high-availability should not be the responsibility of the DBA, alone.

From a purely technical standpoint, I find that...

This is more a question of code organisation -- something that only improves with practice.

Remember that you can create as many classes as you need to run your application (i.e....

What OS user is running your SQL Server instance?

What SQL user is running your stored procedure?

How are you accessing the file, when it is on the same server?

What file-transfer protocols...

You are mixing up the SQL with the VB and confusing yourself. Not to mention, introducing a massive SQL-injection hole, by building up the string in that fashion.

Instead, define...

At the risk of incurring the wrath of the pure SQL guts on the forum, for what it is worth, I'll bite... 🙂

You have not specified a definition for MyVariable;...

Not that I advocate this approach, at all, but the following should allow you to get a column list for any server/database/schema/table combo...

DECLARE @liststr NVARCHAR(MAX) = NULL,

...