What is the alternative to CASE statement in SQL Server? The IIF function. Here are two examples of CASE and IIF, and why IIF deserves more use.
SQL Server emergency? Email pinal@sqlauthority.com with URGENT in the subject line.
Automatic Plan Correction: Reading SQL Server’s Tuning Advice
Read automatic plan correction advice, compare regressed and recommended plans, and verify that forcing the last good plan held.
SQL SERVER – Fix Error 3271: A nonrecoverable I/O error occurred on file. The remote server returned an error: (403) Forbidden
A reader’s backup to URL failed with Error 3271: the remote server returned an error: (403) Forbidden. Here is how I reproduced it and the easy fix.
SQL SERVER – What is Forwarded Records and How to Fix Them?
Forwarded Records in heap tables still puzzle many SQL Server users, years after I first wrote about them. Here is what they are and how to fix them.
SQL SERVER – What is Tail-Log Backups?
Tail-Log Backups capture the end of an available transaction log before a restore. I assess them within the intended recovery chain.
Asterisk Instead of a Number: A SQL Server Puzzle
This puzzle assigns a nine digit number to a varchar(8) variable and gets an asterisk instead of a number. The answer is an implicit conversion that does not fit. The post tests which data types behave this way, which ones raise an error, and how to size the variable.
SQL SERVER – Error 1324. The folder path ‘Program Files’ contains an invalid character.
Error 1324. The folder path ‘Program Files’ contains an invalid character. Let us fix the error with the help of the solution in the blog.
SQL Server slow? Let's fix it together in about four hours.
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Who We Are
Pinal Dave is an SQL Server Performance Tuning Expert and independent consultant with over 24 years of hands-on experience. He holds a Masters of Science degree and numerous database certifications.
Pinal has authored 19 books and 125 Pluralsight courses. To freely share his knowledge and help others build their expertise, Pinal has also written more than 5,800 database tech articles on his blog at https://blog.sqlauthority.com.
Pinal is also a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer (CF-L1) and CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2).
Nupur Dave is a social media enthusiast and an independent consultant. She primarily focuses on the database domain, helping clients build short and long-term multi-channel campaigns to drive leads for their sales pipeline.
Shaivi Pinalkumar Dave is a book author and a women’s artistic gymnast.

