EXCEPT returns distinct left-side rows absent on the right. Compare direction, duplicates and NULL equality using complete small result sets.
What Is a Database Backup? Full, Differential, Log
A database backup comes in three kinds and they work together. Measured sizes for full, differential and log, why the recovery model decides everything, and the restore order that cannot be improvised.
FIFO Inventory Costing in T-SQL: Matching Sales to Purchase Lots
Which purchase lot paid for which sale? Two running totals and one join answer it, with no cursor and no loop.
SQL SERVER – IntelliSense Does Not Work – Enable IntelliSense
IntelliSense in SQL Server 2008 not showing suggestions? Four ways to Enable IntelliSense, starting with connecting to a 2008 instance and checking Tools, Options.
Planning for Data Growth
Planning for data growth uses backup and file trends, workload events, storage lead times, and a dated request for more capacity.
SQL SERVER – Fix : Error : Msg 2714, Level 16, State 6 – There is already an object named ‘#temp’ in the database
Msg 2714 says there is already an object named #temp in the database, even after an IF EXISTS check and DROP. A reader asked why, and here is the answer.
RANK vs DENSE_RANK: Keep Poll Ties at the Cutoff
RANK vs DENSE_RANK gives tied vote totals different cutoff behavior. Keep display ordering separate from the tie criterion and rank each poll independently.