This article will cover the STRING_SPLIT function in SQL Server including an overview and detailed usage examples.
An MDS Driven Approach to a Turnaround Time Calculation in SQL Server
November 30, 2018One calculation that you are almost guaranteed to have to produce in your career as a T-SQL developer relates to the calculation of a turnaround time. This is often a key KPI for measuring the performance of both individuals and teams, particularly when the business operates within a service-oriented sector i.e. customer support, transportation, healthcare etc. Turnaround time calculation does not only refer to business metrics rather any activity (i.e. ordering a pizza) with a recorded start and an end time can have its own turnaround time calculated. In this article we evaluate different options for calculating a turnaround time including using DATEDIFF function, creating your own user-defined function (UDF) as well as an integration with SQL Server Master Data Services.
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SQL Server 2019 on Linux with Ubuntu
November 29, 2018In my previous articles, we installed SQL Server 2019 on the windows environment (vs Linux / Ubuntu). We also explored some of the important enhancements in SQL Server 2019
SQL Server 2019 on Linux with a Docker container on Ubuntu
November 29, 2018In the first article of the series on SQL Server 2019 and Ubuntu, we prepared the virtual machine environment and installed Ubuntu 18.10 in it. In this part of the article, we will install the latest SQL Server 2019 Preview CTP 2.1.
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SQL Server 2019 on Linux with Ubuntu and Azure Data Studio
November 29, 2018In the previous articles of this series on using SQL Server 2019 on Ubuntu, we have explored the following
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Saving your SQL Execution Plan
November 28, 2018In the previous articles of this series (see the index at bottom), we discussed the characteristics of the SQL Execution Plan from multiple aspects, that include the way the SQL Execution Plan is generated by the SQL Server Query Optimizer internally, what are the different types of plans, how to identify and analyze the different components and operators of the Execution Plans, how to work with the plans using different tools and finally, tuning the performance of simple and complex T-SQL queries using the Execution Plans. In this, the last article of this series, but not the least, we will discuss where the Execution plan is stored and how to save it for future use.
How to create an email alert in SQL Server Agent for job failures
November 28, 2018SQL Server Agent is a Microsoft Windows service which helps to execute, schedule and automatize T-SQL queries, Integration Service Package, SQL Server Analysis Service queries, executable programs, operating system, and PowerShell commands. These actions which are performed by SQL Server can be called by the SQL Server Agent. Maybe, we can liken SQL Server Agent to an alarm clock because the agent will execute the scheduled task when the time comes
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Overview of the SQL REPLACE function
November 27, 2018In this article, I’ll show you how to find and replace data within strings. I will demonstrate how to use the function SQL REPLACE, where you look for a substring within a string, and then replace it.
SQL index overview and strategy
November 27, 2018A SQL index is used to retrieve data from a database very fast. Indexing a table or view is, without a doubt, one of the best ways to improve the performance of queries and applications.
A SQL index is a quick lookup table for finding records users need to search frequently. An index is small, fast, and optimized for quick lookups. It is very useful for connecting the relational tables and searching large tables.
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What is Database Normalization in SQL Server?
November 27, 2018In addition to specifically addressing database normalization in SQL Server, this article will also address the following questions:
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Overview of SQL COUNT and COUNT_BIG in SQL Server
November 23, 2018In this article, we’ll walk-though two other important SQL aggregate function, SQL COUNT and COUNT_BIG. In the previous article of this series, we covered how to retrieve data, join tables, work with dates and times, use window functions, filter data, and much more.
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Using the SQL Execution Plan for Query Performance Tuning
November 23, 2018In the previous articles of this series (see the index at bottom), we went through many aspects of the SQL Execution Plan, where we discussed how the Execution Plan is generated internally, the different types of plans, the main components and operators and how to read and analyze the plans that are generated using different tools. In this article, we will show how we can use an Execution Plan in tuning the performance of T-SQL queries.
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Overview of the SQL Order by clause
November 23, 2018In this article, we’ll walk-through the concept of the SQL Order by clause and understand how the SQL engine works with the ordering result in a query.
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Lightweight performance profiling in SQL Server 2019
November 21, 2018Database administrators are used to dealing with query performance issues. As part of this duty, it is an important aspect to identify the query and troubleshoot the reason for its performance degradation. Normally, we used to enable SET STATISTICS IO and SET STATISTICS TIME before executing any query.
Graph Database features in SQL Server 2019 – Part 1
November 21, 2018SQL Server 2017 introduced Graph database features where we can represent the complex relationship or hierarchical data. We can explore the following articles to get familiar with the concept of the Graph database.
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Enlighten World Flag Slicer in Power BI Desktop
November 21, 2018Power BI has a rich set of visuals to represent data according to our requirements. These custom visuals make it easy for us to highlight data effectively to understand and share the data in reports. We have learned many customized visuals so far in ongoing series of Power BI Desktop.
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How to Programmatically Pass Credentials in an Embedded Power BI Report
November 20, 2018In the article, How to embed a Power BI Report Server report into an ASP.Net web application, we looked at available options for embedding a Power BI Report Server report into an ASP.NET web application. Since the publication of the article, I have received several questions relating to how one goes about programmatically passing credentials for report server connection within an embedded Power BI Report Server report. The simple answer to such questions is that it is currently not possible to implement user impersonation in an embedded Power BI Report Server. However, like in most scenarios, there are workarounds that one could temporarily employ – at least until Microsoft comes up with a permanent solution to what is becoming a top requested feature at ideas.powerbi.com.
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A new SQL Execution Plan viewer
November 20, 2018In the previous articles of this series (see the index at bottom), we discussed many aspects of the SQL Execution Plans, starting with the main concept of SQL Execution Plan generation, diving in the different types of the plans and showing how to analyze the components and operators of the SQL Execution Plans.
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CDS for apps in the [POWER WORLD]
November 19, 2018Executive Summary
CDS for Apps VS Power Query – is there a difference? If so, what is that difference? Are they mutually exclusive or complement each other? Later I briefly outline Common Data Services for Analytics no, Power BI Datapools no again, actually Power BI Data Flows. It is difficult to keep up with the correct naming.
Six different methods to copy tables between databases in SQL Server
November 16, 2018In this article, you’ll learn the key skills that you need to copy tables between SQL Server instances including both on-premises and cloud SQL databases. In this article, I’ll walk-through several ways of copying a table(s) between SQL databases, helping you to see the benefits and trade-offs of each option.
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SQL CAST and SQL CONVERT function overview
November 16, 2018This article is an effort to discuss SQL Cast and SQL Convert functions as a follow-up to previous articles, in which we’ve discussed several SQL tips such as SQL Date, SQL Coalesce, SQL Union, SQL Join, SQL Like, SQL String etc.
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SQL Join introduction and overview
November 15, 2018A SQL Join clause is put within a Select statement and at the end, it’s given a join condition, which tells the database how to fetch your data. The column specified within the join condition must be preceded by a table name if the column name is the same in both tables. When a column is preceded with a table name, it’s known as a qualified column.
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Columnstore Index Enhancements – data compression, estimates and savings
November 14, 2018Data compression is required to reduce database storage size as well as improving performance for the existing data. SQL Server 2008 introduced Data compression as an enterprise version feature. Further to this, SQL Server 2016 SP1 and above supports data compression using the standard edition as well.
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Candlestick chart for stock data analysis in Power BI Desktop
November 14, 2018Candlestick chart for stock data analysis in Power BI Desktop
Power BI Desktop contains a wide range of custom visualizations which helps to represent and analysis of the data with extensive formatting options. You can effectively showcase your data and save time as well by creating complex data chart with simple configuration options.
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SQL Execution Plan enhancements in SSMS 18.0
November 13, 2018This article will provide an overview of the SSMS 18.0 with particular focus on improvements to the SQL execution plan feature. To work with Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine, you need to have an environment to edit, debug and deploy scripts written in different languages such as T-SQL, DAX, MDX, XML and JSON. In addition, you need a GUI tool that helps you to configure, query, monitor and administrate your SQL Server instances wherever they are hosted; locally at your machine, on a remote Windows or Linux server or in the cloud. All this can be achieved using SQL Server Management Studio aka SSMS.
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