(Ron Talmage) SQLCMD is SQL Server 2005’s new command-line query tool that, for all practical purposes, not only replaces osql, but also offers an alternative to the graphically oriented SQL Server 2005 Management Studio. You can run queries interactively in SQLCMD (as you can with isql and osql

(Hilary Cotter) SQL Server does well configuring itself for optimal performance, more so than any other RDBMS on the market today. However, there are several settings you must modify to squeeze extra transactions per minute (TPM) out of your servers. The purpose of this tip is to discuss these s

When you try to create a new job in SQL Server Enterprise Manager and you try to assign a database for a Transact-SQL job step in Microsoft SQL Server 2000, only the master database and the tempdb database are listed.

(Narayana Rao Surapaneni and Praveena Surapaneni) Ever since their release, Microsoft .NET technologies and products have gained momentum in the market. The usage of Microsoft technologies in different domains is ever increasing. Many organizations have structured their IT strategies around Microsof

(Arthur Fuller) When the time comes to optimize your databases, you want to ensure that you’re up for the job. Avoid optimization missteps and learn about a product that will help you eliminate these errors in the first place.

An application that uses the Virtual Device Interface feature of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 to back up a SQL Server 2000 database may not back up the database. When the backup operation fails, you experience the following exception: HRESULT 0x80070005

(Marcin Policht) In this article, we are continuing the overview of various enumerator types within the Foreach Loop Container of SQL Server 2005 Integration Services. So far we have covered such enumerators as Foreach File (iterating over files selected according to arbitrarily assigned criteri

When you try to install a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 service pack, the installation may fail, and you receive the following error message: This Service Pack is meant for a different language than your installed product

(Sahil Malik) T-SQL has been the conventional method of writing database objects such as stored procedures, triggers, aggregates, and so forth. SQL Server 2005 introduces a new array of possibilities because of its tight integration with the .NET Framework. It allows you to write stored procedur

(Mike Rorke) I had a request today asking me how to get the current date/time as part of an XQuery expression in SQL Server 2005. The XQuery standard defines various functions to do this type of action, but unfortunately, SQL Server 2005 XQuery does not support these 🙂 Rather, you need to get the d