Database roles let you grant permissions to a group once, then add and remove members as jobs change. This post covers the fixed roles and the risk of db_owner, shows how to create a custom role, and checks role membership and permissions with queries.
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Standard Developer vs Enterprise Developer Edition in SQL Server 2025
Choose Standard Developer or Enterprise Developer in SQL Server 2025, inspect the edition, and test against production features.
Script Table As in SSMS: CREATE, INSERT and SELECT in One Click
Script Table As is the right-click menu in SSMS that writes CREATE, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE statements for a table. This post shows what each option writes, what the scripts leave out, and how to run them safely.
Query Options in SSMS: Settings That Change Your Results
Query Options are the per-window settings in SSMS that change how a query runs and how its results look. This post covers results to grid, text or file, the character limits that cut long values, the SET options that change answers, and why SSMS and your application can disagree.
Commenting Out Code: Testing Safely in SSMS
Commenting Out Code is the quickest way to switch off part of a script while you test the rest. This post covers the SSMS shortcuts, testing one WHERE filter at a time, the trap of GO inside a block comment, and a safety note to leave above a DELETE.
An Index Seek That Reads Millions of Rows: Residual Predicates
Diagnose an index seek that reads far more rows than it returns by checking residual predicates, Actual Rows Read and index key order.
Joining Three Tables: Following the Keys Step by Step
Joining three tables is easier when you add one join at a time and check the row count after each step. This post builds a small bookshop query from Customers, Orders and OrderLines, adds the book titles, and shows how a missing join condition multiplies rows.
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