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 ...

It's well-known by now that SQL Server 2005 and 2008 include new encryption-related statements that allow you to create and administer encryption keys. You can use CREATE CERTIFICATE to create or import a certificate or DROP ASYMMETRIC KEY to remove an asymmetric key from the database, for instance.  One of the interesting ommissions ...