(Nicholas Chase) In the creation of a database, a data model and integrity constraints can create certainty in the structure and content of the data. But how do you enforce that kind of control when your data is just text in hand-editable files? Fortunately, validating files and documents can make s
Other News
The Trigger-Happy DBA – System Triggers
(Steve Callan) So far, the trigger-happy DBA series has dealt with triggers related to Data Manipulation Language (DML) operations. As mentioned in the beginning of the series, another type of useful trigger is that of the system trigger. System triggers can be delineated into two categories: those
Special Ops–sample chapter (SQL Server Security)
(Erik Pace Birkholz) In the fast-paced, caffeine-powered, and sometimes reckless world of computer security, the security analogy of a "hard crunchy outside and soft chewy inside," a staple of the security community today, is uncannily apropos as we spend millions to protect and fortify the outside
Lightweight XML Search Servers
(Jon Udell) In earlier installments of this column, I made the case for exploiting the combination of XHTML and CSS, and I demonstrated a browser-based technique for searching XHTML/CSS content using XPath. I’ve been using a variation of this technique on my weblog. It works, and it’s been a revelat
SQL Server 2000 DTS Part 8 – DTS Designer Tasks – Transform Data Task
(Marcin Policht) A few more DTS Designer tasks are left to cover out of a total of 17 existing in SQL Server 2000 Data Transformation Services implementation. Arguably, the one that has undergone the most significant changes since the SQL 7.0 release is the Transform Data Task. In this article, we w
Leveraging user-defined distinct types
(Alexander Kuznetsov) User-defined distinct types (UDDTs) are very useful in many situations. Let us consider a simple example and see for ourselves. (R)
Using DB2 UDB OLAP functions
(Alexander Kuznetsov) Online analytical processing (OLAP) functions are very flexible and powerful. Using them, you may come up with simple solutions to some problems that would otherwise require either iteration through one or several cursors or recursion. In some other cases it is much easier to w
Fast Reset Sequences (Alternative)
(Ilya Petrenko) In a previous tip, Fast Reset Sequences, I showed how to reset a sequence to MinValue with few calls to the data dictionary (SQL and PL/SQL implementations). The following script below is another approach to achiev the same result with even fewer calls. This technique is very useful
Microsoft Justifies Its XML Patent Moves
(Mary Jo Foley) Microsoft watchers are questioning yet again Microsoft’s intentions toward XML, the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) Extensible Markup Language standard. Last year, Microsoft released publicly its Word 2003, Excel 2003 and InfoPath 2003 XML schemas. The company made the schemas free
Oracle9i Forms Diagnostic Techniques
This document provides information that will help you resolve problems that occur when you run an application over the Web using Oracle9i Forms. It contains an outline of: the common causes for errors, the method you can use to verify your installation, and the tools and techniques provided to diagn