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Dates and Times in SQL Server: DATEADD()
We are now in the home stretch of the long-running series about dates and times in SQL Server and Azure SQL Database. This week we look at one of my favourite T-SQL functions when it comes to dates and times: DATEADD(). Syntax As with similar functions, DATEADD can do arithmetic on dates as well as[…]
PASS Summit Speaker Idol 2018
This scheduled post is coming to you from Seattle, where the PASS Summit 2018 has just kicked off. Because it is a scheduled post, I have no idea what announcements from the convention will be made today and tomorrow, but rest assured that they will be worth looking at. In the meantime, I have been[…]
String or binary data would be truncated: get the full picture in SQL Server 2017
SQL Server 2019 Preview (CTP 2.0) introduced a long-awaited improvement to an error message that’s been around in SQL Server for many years, but was unhelpful:
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Msg 8152, Level 16, State 6, Procedure ProcedureName, Line Linenumber String or binary data would be truncated. |
Thanks for nothing, error message. Which table? Which column? What data? This is how the error message looks now:
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Msg 2628, Level 16, State 6, Procedure ProcedureName, Line Linenumber String or binary data would be truncated in table '%.*ls', column '%.*ls'. Truncated value: '%.*ls'. |
Notice how the table, column and value are[…]
Create a slipstream installer for SQL Server on Windows
Since the release of SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 1 in April 2009, it has been possible to install SQL Server with media that includes the latest patches, whether they be Service Packs (for SQL Server 2016 and prior), Cumulative Updates, and even hotfixes. There was the hint of a promise with the new servicing[…]
Fix SQL Server with one click
Tempting headline, isn’t it? It might even seem like clickbait, but that’s not the intention. The SQL Server default configuration is not recommended for production environments, and yet I have worked on many production environments that have been set up by people who don’t know that the default configurations are not recommended. These same people[…]
Changes to the SQL Server servicing model (Cumulative Updates)
On Monday of this week, Microsoft announced changes to the servicing model for SQL Server, starting with SQL Server 2017. From today onward, we can expect to see the following during the first five years after release (known as Mainstream Support): One Cumulative Update per month for the first twelve months. One Cumulative Update every[…]
What is a DBA anyway?
Some time ago we started a new series here, called Database Fundamentals. The very first post in that series asked what a database is. One of the major announcements at Ignite last month was that of SQL Server 2019 preview and major improvements to Azure SQL Database, Microsoft’s on-premises and cloud-based relational database systems, respectively.[…]
Azure means hybrid now
On Monday 24 September 2018, Microsoft announced a slew of stuff at their annual Ignite conference that is going to make life a lot more interesting for many people all over the world. There’s a lot to process, so I’m going to take my time to pick through the announcements over the next few weeks.[…]
Public Service Announcement: check your backup notifications
The Azure cloud platform lost a data centre for a number of hours recently due to inclement weather. This affected many customers — including Microsoft’s own services — for almost an entire day. Given that the cloud is ostensibly designed to mitigate downtime by way of distributing workloads across multiple redundant systems, this could have[…]
Bulk insert issue with UTF-8 fixed-width file format
Fellow Canadian Doran Douglas brought this issue to my attention recently, and I wanted to share it with you as well. Let’s say you have a file in UTF-8 format. What this means is that some of the characters will be single-byte, and some may be more than that. Where this becomes problematic is that[…]