Implicit or explicit? Download the SQL Server data type conversion chart to see which conversions happen on their own and which need CAST or CONVERT.
Removing Repeated Characters From a String With GENERATE_SERIES
Remove repeated characters with GENERATE_SERIES, ROW_NUMBER, and ordered STRING_AGG, then benchmark a SQL Server 2019 fallback.
log_reuse_wait_desc: Why the Transaction Log Will Not Shrink
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.
Concat Strings in SQL Server: SQL in Sixty Seconds #035
To concat strings in SQL Server, use the + operator or the CONCAT function. The tests here show what each one does with NULL, numbers and dates, how the 8000 character limit cuts a result, and when CONCAT_WS or STRING_AGG is the better tool.
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.