In T-SQL you should use the IS NULL keywords to test for a null value. But David Poole runs into a strange gotcha in one of his applications where he is testing for a null value. It's an interesting read following Sherlock Poole around on his hunt to find an error.
SQL Server DTS is an amazing ETL tool. Parallel processing is not only possible, but author Leo Peysakhovich shows us how he does it in this article about his index rebuild process. By bundling DTS into SQL Server for free, Microsoft gave us a platform for not only ETL, but also many basic tasks that all DBAs are stuck working on. Read on to see if parallel processing of index rebuilds is something you can use.
Storing passwords in SQL Server for authentication by your application is a common practice. But not always a good one. Someone with access could easily see all passwords and perhaps cause mischief inside your application. Imagine the office gossip getting access to your HR application as the HR director! Not a good thing. Dinesh Asanka has written a short piece on how you can use a built in function in SQL Server to encrypt these passwords and use them with a minimum of effort.
Andy discusses one of the questions he uses to screen senior developer candidates. While the question itself is interesting, we think it will be more interesting to see how many of you agree with one of his positions - that developers think of program code and sql code as different animals, especially when it comes to debugging.
Migrating data from one SQL Server database to another can be challenging. Steve Jones has a new series that looks at various techniques that he's used to move data into a new database. This one looks at how you can quickly take Excel based data and insert it into a new database without using DTS.
Setting up SQL Server server-side traces is not the easiest task in the world. Quantum Software Research has built a product that is an MMC add-in to manage these traces. Author Dale Corey takes a look at this product and how well it works with SQL Server 2000.
Dark Horse CRM is an enterprise-class Customer Relationship Management application that allows companies to better develop and maintain customers. Visit www.darkhorsecrm.com for more information and to download the free version of Dark Horse CRM that runs on Java, Apache Tomcat, and MSSQL or PostgreSQL.
SQL Server Express 2005 is a new product that has been released (in Beta) as a followon to the MSDE product. A number of new features as well as complementary products for all of the .NET development tools are now available. Read on for a quick summary of what this new product line is all about.
Using sysforeignkeys to discover SQL Server circular relationships. Have you ever tried this? Most of us probably haven't, but Jeffrey Yao often needs to reverse engineer databases for his clients. Here's a followup to his first article where he presents another of his techniques for doing a little detective work in your databases.
SQL Server has a great backup and recovery architecture, but you have to know how to properly configure and use the server to ensure that you will not be seeking new employment anytime soon. A few of the Sonasoft team have written this short piece on strategies for setting up your backup jobs to ensure recovery in the event of a disaster. Welcome new authors Bilal Ahmed, Kiran Kumar, and Vas Srinivasan.
By Steve Jones
dolorblindness – n. the frustration that you’ll never be able to understand another person’s...
By Steve Jones
I had a customer ask about analyzing their Test Data Manager (TDM) usage to...
By Steve Jones
I had an idea for an animated view of a sales tool, and started...
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In SQL Server 2025, if I want to remove an IP from a listener, what do I do?
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