A puzzle for you: why does converting money to decimal throw Msg 8115, an arithmetic overflow error, when you cast 12345.67 as DECIMAL(5,2)? Share your answer.
SQL Server emergency? Email pinal@sqlauthority.com with URGENT in the subject line.
SQL SERVER – Challenge – Puzzle – Usage of FAST Hint
When does the FAST hint help? It asks SQL Server to return the first rows quickly, yet my tests showed no change in time. Can you find a good example?
SQL SERVER – Concat Function in SQL Server – SQL Concatenation
Is there a CONCAT function in SQL Server? An attendee said MySQL and Oracle have one. I show how the plus operator joins strings, numbers and column values.
geometry STIsEmpty: Empty Shapes Are Different From SQL NULL
geometry STIsEmpty tests whether an existing spatial instance has an empty point set. I keep that condition separate from SQL NULL. A missing database value and a present empty geometry are different inputs.
SQLAuthority News – SQLPASS Nov 8-11, 2010-Seattle – An Alternative Look at Experience
SQLPASS 2010 in Seattle was the best summit ever. Instead of the usual event report, here is an alternative look at my trip, travel stats and fun moments.
LIKE Cardinality: String Statistics and Row Estimates
LIKE row estimates depend on the pattern, string statistics and compilation context. Compare estimated and actual matching rows in a controlled distribution, while keeping cardinality estimates separate from the chosen access path.
SQL SERVER – Change Database Access to Single User Mode Using SSMS
I showed before how to set single user mode with T-SQL before a backup. You can also set single user mode using SSMS, from the database properties page.
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.

