The Messages tab in SSMS shows what a query did, not what it returned. This post reads row counts, PRINT output, warnings and errors line by line, and explains what SET NOCOUNT ON changes.
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Rows, Columns and Tables: How a Database Holds Information
Rows, Columns and Tables are the three ideas behind every relational database. A table holds one kind of thing, a column describes one fact about it, and a row records one item. This post builds a small Books table in SQL Server and reads it back by row and by column.
Readable File Sizes: Converting Bytes to KB, MB and GB
Turn raw bytes into friendly sizes without losing accuracy. Includes the overflow trap and the 500 GB drive that shows as 465.7.
Escaping Wildcards in LIKE: Searching for % and _ Literally
Handle escaping wildcards in SQL Server LIKE searches with brackets, ESCAPE, and a reusable function that preserves literal input.
Keeping Admin Scripts One Click Away in SSMS Template Explorer
Organize SSMS Template Explorer scripts, fill reusable parameters, review a copy-only backup, and preserve custom templates on disk.
Integer Division in T-SQL: Why Your Percentages Come Out Zero
Fix integer division in T-SQL percentages from COUNT, SUM and window calculations with decimal types and rounding at the right step.
Logins and Users in SQL Server: Who Gets In and What They Can Do
Logins and users are two different things in SQL Server. A login gets a person or an application into the server, and a user gets them into one database. This post explains Windows and SQL authentication, how a login maps to a user, and how to check the mapping with a query.
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