We all know that dynamic SQL runs in its own scope (see here for details), and that if used improperly it can have serious security implications.  But it's also important to realize that dynamic SQL evaluates your SQL statements more like a stored procedure than a regular script.  In stored procedures, if the tables you reference ...

Someone posted a question to the SQL Server forum the other day asking how to count runs of zero bits in an integer using SQL.  Basically the poster wanted to know how to efficiently determine the longest contiguous string of zero-bits (known as a run of bits) in any given 32-bit integer.  Here are a couple ...

Ask about nearly any kind of SQL-based date calculation in the newsgroups, and you'll likely get responses that include use of an auxiliary calendar table.  It's a really good idea, and something I highly recommend to anyone who has to do date-based calculations on the server.  For those who do dimensional modeling, you'll probably ...

On the SQL Server public programming newsgroup someone recently posted a question about an SSMS error (''Cannot parse script. 'System.OutOfMemoryException' thrown.'') I hadn’t encountered this error myself, but the workaround is to break up very large scripts (50+ MB) into smaller scripts. Adam Machanic posted a T-SQL Tuesday challenge to post a ...

Back in January 2007, SQL guru Itzik Ben-Gan posted a series of MS Connect enhancement requests concerning windowing function enhancements.  Those who have used the ROW_NUMBER(), RANK(), DENSE_RANK(), and NTILE() functions on SQL 2005 and 2008, you already know how useful they are.  They simplify code and can improve performance ...

Thanks to all those who made the NJSQL Saturday event held in Iselin, NJ today a success! Those lucky enough to attend were given a sneak preview of one of the best young presenters out there--MVP Jacob Sebastian--who will also be speaking at PASS.  I have to hand it to Jacob: he gave one of the best presentations on a SQL Server topic ...