(Brian Moran) I’ve read about how fragmentation at the SQL Server level can hurt my queries’ performance. I understand how to look for fragmentation within my SQL Server tables by using the DBCC SHOWCONTIG command. However, should I also worry about fragmentation at the OS level? (R,$)
Other News
Tutorial: Adding Conditional Formatting into Reporting Services
(Brian Knight) Last week, we discussed how to create your first report in Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services. The report we created was a status report on SQL Server Agent jobs. The report we created was from the template and was very crude looking because of it. In this short article, we’re go
Data restriction using CHECK constraints
(Barrie Sosinsky) You can use one or more CHECK constraints to limit the data that can be entered into your tables or column. A CHECK evaluates a Boolean equation and determines if the data either matches or doesn’t match the condition. While a CHECK constraint doesn’t provide the programming logic
Streamline Your Database Setup Process with a Custom Installer
(Alek Davis) If you ever had to install, repair, or upgrade a large database, you must know that database setup can be a daunting process, one that is especially prone to human error. Mishaps such as skipping an upgrade script or forgetting to recompile a new version of a stored procedure can ha
Get all from Table A that isn’t in Table B
(Jamie Thomson) A common requirement when building a data warehouse is to be able to get all rows from a staging table where the business key is not in the dimension table. For example, I may want to get all rows from my STG_DATE table where the DateID is not in DIM_DATE.DateID.
Big Blue Plugs DB2 Holes
(Ryan Naraine) IBM has released a pair of “FixPaks” to plug security holes in its DB2 Universal Database product after researchers discovered multiple code execution vulnerabilities.
Extend Your J2EE Application Server for Instant Messaging
(Prabhu Kapaleeswaran) J2EE application servers have become a vital enterprise component recently, with users frequently interacting with them to get the data they need. These “self-service” enterprise systems are often further improved by extending the availability of data to the right people at th
How To Specify Parameters for an XML Template Query from Visual Basic
The functionality to specify parameters for a T-SQL or XPath query is provided by enhancements in ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) 2.6. This article presents a sample of how to specify parameters to a templated query against SQL Server 2000 from an MDAC 2.6 client.
Working With Columns That Contain Null Values
(Gregory A. Larsen) When a column in a row contains a NULL what does this mean? So what is a NULL? Is a NULL value a zero, space, or something else? From a SQL Server perspective a NULL is not a value, it only means that a value was not provided when the row was created. Special considerations need
Look Ma Bell, No Hands! – VoiceXML, X+V, and the Mobile Device
(Les Wilson) The emerging world without wires has fostered a growing number of small and mobile devices (everything from PDAs to smart phones) capable of accessing data and running applications. The trouble is, while devices are getting smaller, human hands and fingers are not.