Enhanced PolyBase SQL 2019 – External tables using t-SQL

October 31, 2018 by Rajendra Gupta

In this article on PolyBase, we will explore more use case scenarios for external tables using T-SQL.

SQL data classification – Add sensitivity classification in SQL Server 2019

October 31, 2018 by Rajendra Gupta

SQL Server 2019 offers powerful new features to help in safeguarding your data and complying with various privacy regulations, which we’ll be covering in this article

SQL truncate enhancement: Silent Data truncation in SQL Server 2019

October 31, 2018 by Rajendra Gupta

In this article, we’ll take a look into SQL truncate improvement in SQL Server 2019.

Data inserts and updates are a normal and regular task for the developers and database administrators as well as from the application. The source of the data can be in multiple forms as if direct insert using T-SQL, stored procedures, functions, data import from flat files, SSIS packages etc.

Data Science in SQL Server: Unpivoting Data

October 29, 2018 by Dejan Sarka

In this article, in the series, we’ll discuss understanding and preparing data by using SQL unpivot.

SQL Server Execution Plan Operators – Part 4

October 29, 2018 by Ahmad Yaseen

In the previous articles of this series, we went through three sets of SQL Server Execution Plan operators that you will meet with while working with the different Execution Plan queries. We described the Table Scan, Clustered Index Scan, Clustered Index Seek, the Non-Clustered Index Seek, RID Lookup, Key Lookup, Sort, Aggregate – Stream Aggregate, Compute Scalar, Concatenation, Assert, Hash Match Join, Hash Match Aggregate , Merge Join and Nested Loops Join Execution Plan operators. In this article, we will dive in the fourth set of these SQL Server Execution Plan operators.

SQL Server Execution Plan Operators – Part 3

October 29, 2018 by Ahmad Yaseen

In the previous articles of this series, we discussed a group of SQL Server Execution Plan operators that you will face when studying the SQL Execution Plan of different queries. We showed the Table Scan, Clustered Index Scan, Clustered Index Seek, the Non-Clustered Index Seek, RID Lookup, Key Lookup and Sort Execution Plan operators. In this article, we will discuss the third set of these SQL Execution Plan operators.

SQL Server Execution Plan Operators – Part 2

October 26, 2018 by Ahmad Yaseen

In the previous article, we talked about the first set of operators you may encounter when working with SQL Server Execution Plans. We described the Non Clustered Index, Seek Execution Plan operators, Table Scan, Clustered Index Scan, and the Clustered Index Seek. In this article, we will discuss the second set of these SQL Server execution plan operators.

Overview of the SQL Delete statement

October 25, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram

This article on the SQL Delete is a part of the SQL essential series on key statements, functions and operations in SQL Server.

Replicating Excel’s XY Scatter Report Chart with Quadrants in SSRS

October 25, 2018 by Sifiso W. Ndlovu

In this article, I’ll share some of the tricks and tips that I had to employ in order to successfully replicate Excel’ XY Scatter Report Chart.

Machine Learning Services – Configuring R Services in SQL Server

October 25, 2018 by Ben Richardson

The R language is one of the most popular languages for data science, machine learning services and computational statistics. There are several IDEs that allow seamless R development. Owing to the growing popularity of the R language, R services have been included by Microsoft in SQL Server 2016 onwards. In this article, we will briefly review how we can integrate R with SQL Server 2017. We will see the installation process and will also execute the basic R commands in SQL Server 2017.

Enhanced PolyBase SQL 2019 – External tables for Oracle DB

October 24, 2018 by Rajendra Gupta

In the previous article of the series, we took an overview of PolyBase in SQL Server 2017. We also learned about the Azure Data Studio and SQL Server 2019 preview extension to explore SQL Server 2019 features.

Manage SQL code formatting using SQL formatter options

October 24, 2018 by Marko Zivkovic

This article will provide a review of SQL code formatting using the SQL formatter options in SSMS

Nobody likes to read a large amount of text, even when it’s just a plain one. When reading SQL script where there is a large amount of non-formatted SQL code, the problem becomes even bigger.

Enhanced PolyBase SQL 2019 – Installation and basic overview

October 24, 2018 by Rajendra Gupta

SQL Server 2019 is recently launched in the ignite 2018 event by Microsoft. We can get an overview of SQL 2019 preview version and learn how to install it on Windows environment by following up the article SQL Server 2019 overview and installation.

Forecast SQL backup size

October 23, 2018 by Esat Erkec

This article will cover the process of analyzing and predicting/forecasting the size of a SQL backup as a means to better handle/manage retention of backups.

One of the main database management tenets is “Do not lose your data”. According to this; a database administrator incurs huge responsibilities to protect data. Under these circumstances, taking database backups and archiving SQL backup files is a key task for database administrators. In data protection strategy, taking database backups and archiving backup file processes play the leading role. Especially, backup planning is very significant for disaster recovery scenarios because backup file will be used for restore operation after any failure or data corruption. For this reason, every dba must generate recovery strategies for possible disaster scenarios and ensure that these scenarios can be solvable. At the same time, these backup files must be tested for data integrity; thus process provides to evaluate the recovery time and integrity of backup files. In this Backup and Restore (or Recovery) strategies for SQL Server database article you can find all details about backup and restore strategies.

SQL Server 2019 – New DMF sys.dm_db_page_info

October 22, 2018 by Rajendra Gupta

Microsoft released preview of SQL Server 2019 recently in Ignite 2018. With every release of SQL Server is enriched with new dynamic management view and functions along with enhancements to existing features.

In this article, we will view the newly introduced dynamic management function (DMF) sys.dm_db_page_info and explore the different scenarios around it.

SQL Join clause introduction and overview

October 18, 2018 by Bojan Petrovic

The SQL Join clause is one of the major components of the Select statement, which is used to pull data out of SQL Server

The Select keyword starts the statement. It’s often followed by a star (*) AKA splat as some DBAs call it.

Overview of the SQL Insert statement

October 16, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram

This article on the SQL Insert statement, is part of a series on string manipulation functions, operators and techniques. The previous articles are focused on SQL query techniques, all centered around the task of data preparation and data transformation.

SQL Server 2019 overview and installation

October 15, 2018 by Rajendra Gupta

On September 24^th, 2018, Microsoft launched SQL Server 2019 preview version (SQL Server vNext 2.0) in the ignite 2018 event. As you know, SQL Server 2017 is still being adopted by the organizations, we are now ready with this preview version.

Static and Dynamic SQL Pivot and Unpivot relational operator overview

October 12, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram

In this article, we’ll walk-through the SQL Pivot and SQL Unpivot operators and how they can be useful to transpose SQL Server data. Also, we’ll discuss both static and dynamic ways to use PIVOT and UNPIVOT relational operators that can be used to transform aggregated distinct values as column(s) in the result-set by specifying all the column values in the PIVOT IN clause.

How to add parameters to SSRS mobile reports

October 12, 2018 by Esat Erkec

This article will explain detailed usage of parameters in mobile reports in SSRS. Parameterized reports are important because report readers want to filter and customize their report data with parameters and this option helps report readers to focus on particular data. A parameterized SSRS report uses parameters as an input value and filters the report data according to these parameters. In this article we will focus, in particular, on how to use parameters and data sources together and how can we manage the parameters in mobile SSRS reports.

Data science in SQL Server: Data analysis and transformation – Using SQL pivot and transpose

October 11, 2018 by Dejan Sarka

In data science, understanding and preparing data is critical, such as the use of the SQL pivot operation. In this article, in the series, we’ll discuss understanding and preparing data by using SQL transpose and SQL pivot techniques.

How to create a Word Cloud generator in Power BI Desktop

October 11, 2018 by Rajendra Gupta

In this article, we’ll look at how to create a Word cloud generator in Power BI Desktop, including importing data, customization and more.

In my last article, Power BI Desktop Interactive chord diagrams, we learned about customized visualizations in Power BI Desktop. These visualizations are free to install and we can use them with our data set and customize charts as per our requirements.

Power BI Desktop Pulse Charts

October 9, 2018 by Rajendra Gupta

In my last article, Power BI Desktop Interactive chord diagrams, we underscored that Microsoft Power BI desktop has a rich set of customized visualization features. These visualizations can help to produce convert data to information in an efficient manner to an easy to understand format. We can freely download them from Microsoft AppSource

Overview of the SQL Update statement

October 8, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram

In this article, we’ll walk-through the SQL update statement to modify one or more existing rows in the table.

Overview of the SQL LIKE Operator

October 2, 2018 by Prashanth Jayaram

In this article, we are going to learn how to use the SQL LIKE operator, in SQL Server, using regular expressions to find and/or manipulate text. We will start by learning the symbols and basic syntax of using wildcard regular expressions. We will use character sets and repetition expressions to create flexible matching patterns, and along the way, we’ll examine different ways to use the LIKE operator. And then, finally, in the latter part of the section, we will explore some of the most common and most useful regular expression examples.