A quick introduction to SEQUENCE in SQL Server Denali: create a sequence with start, increment and max values, then fetch numbers with NEXT VALUE FOR.
Text Equality: Trailing Spaces Can Compare as Equal
Text equality can match different stored strings. Check byte length and complete representation when exact identity belongs to the contract.
SQL SERVER – What is a Technology Evangelist?
What is a technology evangelist? Someone who spreads the news about new products, but unlike a salesperson, stays brutally honest even if it costs a sale.
SQL SERVER – Reducing Page Contention on TempDB
Page Contention on TempDB needs an identified allocation wait and server version. I check both before recommending legacy trace flags.
SQL SERVER – Denali – Clipboard Ring – CTRL+SHIFT+V
SQL Server Denali brings the clipboard ring from Visual Studio to SSMS. Copy a few items, then press CTRL+SHIFT+V to cycle through what you copied.
FOR XML PATH: Decode Escaped Text Through TYPE
FOR XML PATH escapes reserved characters. Use TYPE and scalar extraction to recover text instead of manually replacing entity spellings.
Slowly Changing Dimensions in Plain T-SQL
Slowly changing dimensions need explicit Type 1 and Type 2 rules; use T-SQL updates and inserts with tests for history and overlap.