log_reuse_wait_desc tells you why SQL Server cannot reuse its transaction log, so you know why a shrink gives nothing back. This post causes LOG_BACKUP and ACTIVE_TRANSACTION on purpose in a test database on SQL Server 2025, measures the log and fixes each one.
A Calendar Table With Holidays for Date Math
Build a calendar table with weekdays, fiscal months, and American holiday flags, then count working days and find useful date boundaries.
SQL SERVER – Concat Strings in SQL Server using T-SQL – SQL in Sixty Seconds #035 – Video
A sixty second video on how to concat strings in SQL Server, from the plus sign to the SQL Server 2012 CONCAT function that needs no casting.
SQL SERVER – Fix: Error : 402 The data types ntext and varchar are incompatible in the equal to operator
Error 402 says ntext and varchar are incompatible in the equal to operator. I recreate it with a small table and walk through the possible solutions.
SQL SERVER – Fix Error: Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error ‘80040e07’ or Microsoft SQL Native Client error ‘80040e07’
Error 80040e07, syntax error converting datetime from character string, usually means a bad date value. In one case a reader had simply misspelled September.
SQL SERVER – Find Referenced or Referencing Object in SQL Server using sys.sql_expression_dependencies
Which tables does a procedure use, and which procedures use a table? sys.sql_expression_dependencies answers both, with referenced and referencing objects.
STRING_AGG Limits: The 8,000 Byte Error, Ordering and Duplicates
Fix STRING_AGG 8,000-byte limits, enforce ordering, remove duplicates before aggregation, and compare its timing with XML.