Here is a tip for those learning to write inline views in SQL. When you write SQL it doesn’t hurt to be polite. Ok, now I’ve lost you. Let me explain. An inline view is when you write a SQL Statement and then use it as input in another SQL Statement. For this reason it is called an inline view. […]

Today I was watching a Channel 9 presentation regarding the future of C#, specifically new things coming in version 7. There were a few things that made an impact I wanted to communicate. One big thing that came out was the intentional separation of paths between the Dot Net language capabilities. No longer are they attempting to build everything into […]

Today I heard the phrase “Insensible Loss” on a local radio program. It was coined by a medical doctor. He defined Insensible Loss as the loss a person experiences without awareness through their natural senses. For example, we constantly breathe. We inhale and exhale air, while not sensing the exchange. How do you know it happens? You can observe your […]

Dynamic SQL being sent to an SQL Server database isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it need not even be slower than using a stored procedure. Moreover, it need not be susceptible to SQL Injection, where users coopt your SQL Statements to execute their own queries. This capability is easiest to explain using ADO.Net. To use dynamic SQL safely, […]

Database Pools on SQL Azure, although not completely released, are rapidly gaining adoption in the market. The technology is solid, and I would guess that the core functionality is not even new. Primarily, it is a new pricing and load balancing model, allowing database applications to take financial advantage in the ebb and flow of database utilization. In summary, you […]

In SQL Server Management Studio you find Schemas under the Security group. The schema that is most often used in the database is Database Owner, or DBO. User access accounts may be granted the DBO schema, or select permissions related to anything owned by the schema. For example, an SQL Login may be granted execution permission to any stored procedure […]

One of the things making it difficult to automate testing of SQL Code is that most test frameworks are based on scalar data, not sets. I’ve spent hours rolling my own data table comparison tool based on ADO.Net data tables. It took forever to write and perfect. I had to add a number of features to the library as I […]

I came across this blog at SQL Sentry the other day entitled “A ‘drop column’ fix you’ll want for SQL Server 2012 / 2014”, by Aaron Bertrand.. The blog exposes a bug in SQL Server 2012/2014, that, if you drop a column in a table, under some circumstances the data becomes corrupt. I’ll let you read it on your own […]

AZ Jim comments in my editorial about SharePoint as a Service: “One thing I haven’t heard discussed about SharePoint as a Service is security/auditability. For PaaS, database encryption at-rest is the norm (I believe). But unless your Word and Excel files are incorporated as database LOBs, are the external files encrypted? That plays a key role in regulatory compliance for […]

Today I want to share the best failure I ever had. It was early in my career, and it marked me for decades to come. I was building a data import for a large data warehouse in the ‘90s. We imported medical claims and eligibility information on a monthly basis. The import tool we bought reached a point where there […]