geometry STUnion merges geometry coverage. These exact-coordinate rectangles distinguish a combined area from the sum of two areas, including duplicate coverage.
SQL Server emergency? Email pinal@sqlauthority.com with URGENT in the subject line.
REGEXP_INSTR: Locate a Match or a Capture Group
REGEXP_INSTR returns the position of a selected regular-expression match or capture group. I compare its positional arguments using one short string. This example needs SQL Server 2025 and database compatibility level 170.
SQL Error Riddles: Parent Keys Not Found and Other Classics
SQL error riddles have been passed around for years. Here are the classics, told kindly, with the real SQL Server error behind each punchline.
SQL SERVER – Disabled Index and Update Statistics
A reader asked how disabled indexes affect statistics. With the clustered index disabled, Update Statistics throws an error; see what happens once you enable it.
SQL SERVER – DATE and TIME in SQL Server 2008
What happens when you convert DATE and TIME in SQL Server 2008 to DATETIME? A quick demo shows the midnight and 1900 surprise.
SQLAuthority News – SQL Server Technology Evangelists and Evangelism
Am I an evangelist, a mentor or a founder? A funny talk from my public training about SQL Server Technology Evangelists and what my title really is.
Estimated and Actual Execution Plans
Estimated and actual execution plans answer different questions; compare compiled choices with runtime rows, warnings, and resource use.
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.

