The Sad State Of Programmers Part 1 : The Phone Interview.

This is going to be a three part series.
Part 1 The phone interview.
Part 2 The face to face interview.
Part 3 Some tips and observations

A while back I posted that we are looking for a SQL/.NET/FoxPro developer. I did this because we had a real hard time finding this person. I am happy to inform you that we did find this person and he will start in two weeks. Interestingly enough we hired the person with the least years of experience (on paper). This person knew more that people with three times his experience in years.

These days when looking for a programmer you have to do phone interviews if you don’t want to waste an incredible amount of time. A phone interview enables you to assess the skill set of a potential employee without wasting time by picking him up, getting a security badge, booking a conference room etc. A phone interview is also good for the candidate since he/she doesn’t have to travel or dress up to do the interview.

Some things are difficult to ask over the phone but if the candidate looks (or should that be sounds) good then you can ask those questions when you bring the person in. Some people will prepare for a phone interview by having all their books and notes in front of them. They will ask you to repeat the question and while you do so you can hear them flipping pages frantically. So you might be able to cheat on the phone interview but be assured that if you do not know your stuff that you will fall flat on your face on a face to face interview (no pun intended).

One thing I never understood is the fact that it takes a person one minute to answer a question. You either know or don’t know the question. Keep your answers concise, do not spend 3 minutes explaining to me what the difference is between a clustered and non clustered index.
I had to reword my questions slightly because when I asked a question like “Do you know what the difference is between a clustered index and a non clustered index?” some people would reply “yes”. Because of that I changed the question to “Describe what the difference is between a clustered index and a non clustered index?”

Do not shoot yourself in the foot by giving me additional information which is wrong. I asked for the fastest way to empty a table. Almost every single person who knew about truncate added that you cannot rollback a truncate statement. I wrote about that myth a couple of months ago: SQL Myth: Truncate Cannot Be Rolled Back Because It Is Not Logged

I tend to ask between 20 and 40 questions, if I see the candidate’s skill is not good enough I don’t ask everything. Some of the questions are esoteric but I simply ask these questions to get a feel of the overall skill level; it doesn’t matter if they answer these wrong. You can find a list of question here: How Well Do You Interview And Do You Use Wizard Driven Programming?

Here are some interesting answers from the interviews.
Almost every single person answered that an index scan is better than an index seek.
There were several people with SQL Server 2005 experience, these people couldn’t name one single new thing introduced in SQL Server 2005. I asked about windowing functions, DMVs, pivot, apply and more, this was all Greek to them. One person had on her resume that she developed an app in SQL Server 2005. When I asked about her experience she told me she just started to read about SQL Server 2005. This is a big show stopper, sometimes headhunters/recruiters will tell you to just add it to your resume, I wouldn’t do it because it makes you look bad. If the SQL Server 2005 experience is not true what else could be made up? One person had on his resume that he optimized complex stored procedures, when I asked how he did it, he replied that he only selected the rows he needed instead of the whole table. This obviously didn’t answer my question.

That is it for the phone interview, part 2 will be up in a day or two.

EURO 2008 draw

My picks below

Group A: Switzerland, Turkey, Portugal, Czech Republic
1. Portugal, Czech Republic.

Group B: Austria, Poland, Germany, Croatia
1.Croatia, 2. Germany.

Group C: Holland, France, Romania, Italy
1. France, 2. Holland.

Group D: Greece, Russia, Spain, Sweden
1. Spain, 2. Greece.

Screencast: SQL Server 2008 - Table valued parameters

If you have to insert more than one row of data in a Table, you end up executing the insert statement / stored procedure as many times for each row, with Table-valued parameters you can send multiple rows of data to a single TSQL statement or stored procedure without creating temp tables or doing multiple round trips.

Table-valued parameters are a new parameter type in SQL Server 2008 and are declared by using user-defined table types.

Watch the screencast(SWF)
Watch the screencast(WMV)

Integer Math In SQL Server

What do you think the following query will return in SQL Server?

SELECT 3/2

If you said 1.5 then you are wrong! The correct answer is 1, this is because when doing division with 2 integers the result will also be an integer.
There are two things you can do
1 multiply one of the integers by 1.0
2 convert one of the integers to a decimal


Integer math is integer result
DECLARE @Val1 INT,@val2 INT
SELECT @Val1 =3, @val2 =2

SELECT @Val1/@Val2

Result 1

Convert explicit or implicit to get the correct answer
DECLARE @Val1 INT,@val2 INT
SELECT @Val1 =3, @val2 =2

--Implicit
SELECT @Val1/(@Val2*1.0)
--Explicit
SELECT CONVERT(DECIMAL(18,4),@Val1)/@Val2

Result 1.50000000000000

Visual Studio 2008 Training on Channel 9

VS2008 Training Kit: Building Windows Presentation Foundation Applications in Visual Studio 2008 and Expression Blend
This session was presented by Jaime Rodriguez

Come and learn how to build Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications with the help of the new WPF designer in Visual Studio 2008 This session focuses on the construction of a real-world application demonstrating how to get the best out of the designer's capabilities. Learn the basics of building WPF applications in the Visual Studio 2008 WPF designer; have a clear view on when you'll want to work in XAML Code and on the Visual Studio design surface to get your WPF application built; and see how you can use Microsoft Expression Blend in conjunction with Visual Studio 2008 WPF designer.

Watch the screencast here: http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=359715#359715


VS2008 Training Kit: What's New in Windows Presentation Foundation 3.5
This session was presented by Kevin Moore

Learn about the work being done in the Orcas release of WPF, including improved 3D with UIElement3D, increased animation smoothness, better cookie and FireFox plug-in support for XBAPs, as well as support for AddInControl, LINQ, ADO.NET and much more!

Download it here: http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=359713#359713


VS2008 Training Kit: Introduction to Silverlight
This session was presented by Adam Kinney

Silverlight is a cross platform UI framework for creating compelling Web experiences. Come learn the high-level architecture of Silverlight and the tools that are available to build Silverlight applications.

Download it here: http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=359712#359712


VS2008 Training Kit: Building Web Applications with Visual Studio 2008
This session was presented by Ryan Dunn

This session covers the new design and development features in Visual Studio 2008 for creating rich web applications. Topics include the new CSS and HTML design tools, much improved Javascript Intellisense and debugging support, and the new ASP.NET 3.5 controls supporting LINQ and AJAX.

Download it here: http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=359711#359711


VS2008 Training Kit: Introduction to ASP.NET AJAX
This session was presented by Steve Marx

In this session, you'll learn how to use ASP.NET AJAX to build a richer, more responsive user experience. Topics include partial rendering, web services, structured scripting, and integration with Silverlight.


Download it here: http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=359706#359706

.NET Framework 3.5 Common Namespaces and Types Poster Available For Download

The .NET Framework 3.5 Common Namespaces and Types Poster is downloadable as XPS or PDF format. There is also an XPS format file which prints over 16 letter or A4 pages for easy printing. Some assembly is required if you choose this print method.

Get it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7b645f3a-6d22-4548-a0d8-c2a27e1917f8&DisplayLang=en

World Cup Soccer 2010 Qualification - UEFA draw, England And Croatia In The Same Group Again!

Group 1:
Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta

Group 2:
Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg

Group 3:
Czech Rep., Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, San
Marino

Group 4:
Germany, Russia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein

Group 5:
Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia

Group 6:
Croatia, England, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra

Group 7:
France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands

Group 8:
Italy, Bulgaria, Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro

Group 9:
Netherlands, Scotland, Norway, Macedonia FYR, Iceland

Croatia and England again in the same group :-)
Group 7 doesn't look easy either

Whitepaper on Malware to Attack Databases

Brian Kelly on his blog mentiones a whitepaper by Cesar Cerrudo: Data0: Next generation malware for stealing databases. This whitepaper describes how malware could be crafted to steal information out of databases.

The attack will use the following techniques:

• Discovery
  
• Exploitation
  
• Escalate Privileges (if necessary)
  
• Cover Tracks

Print it out and read it while you wait in line on Black Friday

Just For My English Friends

England and Croatia in the same group again for World Cup 2010 qualifications:
Group 6: Croatia, England, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra

Thanksgiving SQL Teaser COUNT

Here is a small simple Thanksgiving teaser. What do you think will the result be of the select count query?

USE tempdb
GO

CREATE TABLE Customer (CustomerID INT PRIMARY KEY)
INSERT Customer VALUES (1)
INSERT Customer VALUES (2)
INSERT Customer VALUES (3)
INSERT Customer VALUES (4)

SELECT COUNT(*) Customer

Visual Studio 2005 Support for SQL Server 2008, Community Technology Preview

This CTP resolves a problem that when you try to open a database connection to SQL Server 2008 by using Visual Studio 2005 design tools, you may receive the following error message:
“This server version is not supported. Only servers up to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 are supported.”
This CTP addresses this issue, and enables the following Visual Studio functionality for SQL Server 2008 CTP5 :

• Server Explorer successfully connects to SQL Server 2008, and database objects such as stored procedures and table data can be viewed and edited. Note that table schemas still cannot be viewed or edited in this release.
  
• SQL CLR projects that target SQL Server 2008 CTP5 can be created and deployed to the server.
  
• T-SQL and SQL CLR debugging are now enabled for SQL Server 2008 CTP5.
  Data binding features in Client and Web Projects are enabled.

This CTP does not support the following features for SQL Server 2008 Nov CTP:

• Creating and editing table schemas in Table Designer or Database Diagrams. The table designer feature in SQL Server Management Studio 2008 can be used to edit table schemas in SQL Server 2008 CTP5.

Download it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e1109aef-1aa2-408d-aa0f-9df094f993bf&displaylang=en

Surface Area Configuration Tool Is Discontinued, SQL-DMO Removed from Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express

Just reading the readme file in SQL Server 2008 November CTP. I noticed that in addition to SQL Server Notification Services the following two things are also being removed.

SQL-DMO Removed from Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express
Surface Area Configuration Tool Is Discontinued

The Surface Area Configuration Tool is discontinued for SQL Server 2008. The following table shows what you can use to configure settings, options, and component features in the November CTP.

Protocols, and connection and startup options
Use SQL Server Configuration Manager.
Database Engine features
Use Declarative Management Framework.
SSAS features
Use the property settings in SQL Server Management Studio.
SSRS features
Edit the RSReportServer.config configuration file.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP November 2007 Available For Download

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP, November 2007 is available for download from the connect site.

There are several formats available.
DVD image files:
X86 DVD Image
X64 DVD Image
IA64 DVD Image

Self-extracting executables:
X86 Executable
X64 Executable
IA64 Executable
Express 2008 Executable

Get it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3BF4C5CA-B905-4EBC-8901-1D4C1D1DA884&displaylang=en

Visual Studio 2008 RTM Available On MSDN

Yes it is true, Visual Studio 2008 RTM is available on MSDN. But be warned the site is slower than ever.



Okay I downloaded it and installed it.

Visual Studio 2008 Available For Download Early Next Week

MSDN Subscriptions WebLog Has a post stating that Visual Studio 2008 will be available early next week. From the site:

Visual Studio 2008 is anticipated out early next week, with availability for Subscribers. Check out the "Top Subscriber Downloads" area on http://msdn2.microsoft.com/subscriptions for VS 2008 downloads.

Microsoft Buiness Intelligence Screen Casts

Channel 9 will be publishing a bunch of Business Intelligence Screen Casts.
This screencast is the first in a series BI Developer screencasts recorded as part of a workshop built on SQL Server 2005 that has been delivered around the globe by Microsoft and Microsoft Partners. This training event takes the student through the Microsoft BI Platform giving a BI Developer the introduction and basic comfort needed to tackle a BI project using Microsoft technology.

This first screencast will take you through the Microsoft BI Platform briefly touching on each of the technologies.
Microsoft BI - Platform Integration

This screencast shows how to use SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), Microsoft's ETL tool, to send conditional email alerts during a load.
Microsoft BI - Developing a Query-Driven E-mail Delivery System

INTERCEPT In SQL Server 2005

I was writing a query and managed to mistype INTERSECT, I typed INTERCEPT and to my surprise the query ran, it returned 2 result set just as if INTERCEPT wasn't there at all
Try it yourself

CREATE TABLE testnulls (ID INT)
INSERT INTO testnulls VALUES (1)
INSERT INTO testnulls VALUES (2)
INSERT INTO testnulls VALUES (null)

CREATE TABLE testjoin (ID INT)
INSERT INTO testjoin VALUES (1)
INSERT INTO testjoin VALUES (3)


SELECT * FROM #testjoin
INTERSECT
SELECT * FROM #testnulls


SELECT * FROM #testjoin
INTERCEPT
SELECT * FROM #testnulls


Feature, Bug?

Okay, it actually doesn't matter what you type between the two statements

SELECT * FROM #testjoin
sdsdsdsdsd
SELECT * FROM #testnulls

That runs just as if you executed the query without sdsdsdsdsd
??????

WAKE UP!!! That acts as an alias, now where is my caffeine.

How Is Your Sensitive Data Encrypted In The Database?

Do you store encrypted data? If you do then how is it encrypted? Do you use the built in capabilities of SQL Server 2005/2008. If you answered yes to the last question then here is another question. What would happen if someone stole the hard drive or even the whole database server? Could they decrypt that data easily with the stored procedures which you have written? Do these store procedures use the DecryptByPassphrase function?

So you probably think that I am crazy and no one would ever steal a database server. Wrong! C I Host a Chicago-based co-location got robbed 4 times since 2005. One company lost 20 servers in the latest heist. You can read more details about that here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/02/chicaco_datacenter_breaches/

Without going into too much detail, this is what we are doing. Our data is encrypted by a corporate crypto tool which can only be accessed from within the DMZ. Keys are created for specific machines; these keys can easily be revoked at any time. Even if you would somehow steal our web and database server you would still be out of luck because of that. The data is encrypted by the tool and stored encrypted in the DB.

Identity theft will cost you in the future.
The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007 has been introduced and was scheduled for debate on November 1st; the Senate and the House still have to vote on it. This is a bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to enable increased federal prosecution of identity theft crimes and to allow for restitution to victims of identity theft.

Follow the developments here:
S. 2168: Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007

SQL Teaser: Printing Without Using PRINT

Print the @SQL variable without using PRINT

DECLARE @SQL varchar(49)
SELECT @SQL = 'Print This Now ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(30), GETDATE())
--Your Code Here

E-Learning: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008

Microsoft leaning has made available a bunch of free SQL server 2008 lessons

In this 3 hour online collection, IT Professionals will learn about the new features in SQL Server 2008. Topics covered within these clinics include:
What's New in SQL Server 2008 for Enterprise Data Platform
What's New in SQL Server 2008 for Business Intelligence
What's New in SQL Server 2008 for Database Development Student

Below are the links to the three lessons:

Clinic 6188: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for Enterprise Data Platform
Clinic 6189: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for Business Intelligence
Clinic 6190: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 for Database Development

Return Null If A Value Is A Certain Value

You need to return NULL only if the value of your data is a certain value. How do you do this?
There are three different ways.

NULLIF
DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='D'


SELECT NULLIF(@1,'D')


REPLACE
This should not really be used, I just added it here to demonstrate that you can in fact use it.

DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='D'

SELECT REPLACE(@1,'D',NULL)


CASE
With case you can test for a range of values. You can test for example for values between A and D. If you reverse the logic then you also don't need to provide the ELSE part since it defaults to NULL anyway.

DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='D'


SELECT CASE @1 WHEN 'D' THEN NULL ELSE @1 END

--No else needed
SELECT CASE WHEN @1 <> 'D' THEN @1 END

And this is how you test for a range.

--Null
DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='D'

SELECT CASE WHEN @1 BETWEEN 'A' AND 'D' THEN NULL ELSE @1 END

--E
DECLARE @1 char(1)
SELECT @1 ='E'

SELECT CASE WHEN @1 BETWEEN 'A' AND 'D' THEN NULL ELSE @1 END

Christmas Is Coming Early This Year

Note from my manager:

"All,

It looks like we have some book money left for this year that we can spend.
Please select 2 books each that you have wanted and send the titles to me and I’ll get them on the list."

Very nice, I picked the following two books below.
The Art of SQL
SQL Server 2005 Practical Troubleshooting: The Database Engine

What would you have picked?

Microsoft Commits to November Release Date for Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5

Today, during the keynote address at Microsoft TechEd Developers 2007, S. “Soma” Somasegar, corporate vice president of the Developer Division at Microsoft Corp., announced that Microsoft will release Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 by the end of November 2007. Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 enable developers at all levels to rapidly create connected applications that offer compelling user experiences for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, mobile devices and the Web. Soma also unveiled plans to open new opportunities for Visual Studio partners, as well as to deliver new tools and resources for developers, including a first Community Technology Preview (CTP) of the Microsoft Sync Framework and new capabilities for Popfly Explorer.

“The highly social and visual nature of the Web has fundamentally changed what users expect from all applications they interact with, regardless of whether it’s on a customer-facing Web site or Windows rich client application, or a desktop business application built using Microsoft Office,” said Somasegar. “Traditionally, organizations have been hard pressed to deliver the richer, more connected applications and services they need to boost productivity, drive revenue and stay ahead of the competition. With Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5, it is easy for developers to use the skills they already have to build compelling applications that take advantage of the latest platforms.”

FWBS Ltd., Xerox Corp., Dell Inc. and K2 are just a few of the early adopter customers that are already experiencing the benefits of these releases. FWBS used Visual Studio, the .NET Framework and the Microsoft Office system to build an Office Business Application (OBA) for the law field. The application enables users to work within Microsoft Office — the tools they use every day — while also dramatically improving productivity and helping users respond quickly to changing business needs.

Xerox has also had early success developing applications with the new tools. “We’ve already seen significant advantages from using Visual Studio Team System 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5. With the first application we built, we easily saved 50 percent of the time and money it would have taken to create the same application with other tools,” said Eugene Shustef, feature design lead, Global Technology, Xerox. “That’s more than a savings to IT — it delivers a huge time-to-market advantage because it put the tool into the hands of our analysts six months sooner than they would have had it otherwise.”

Creating New Opportunities for Partners

Microsoft also announced plans to make additional investments in the Visual Studio partner ecosystem. In response to partner feedback and in order to provide better support for interoperability with other developer tools and cross-platform scenarios, Microsoft is today announcing plans to change licensing terms, no longer limiting partners to building solutions on top of Visual Studio for Windows and other Microsoft platforms only. This licensing change will be effective for the release of Visual Studio 2008 and the Visual Studio 2008 SDK.

“Integrating dynaTrace’s cross-platform application performance management and diagnostics product with Visual Studio has opened up additional commercial opportunities for our business and delivered a compelling solution for our customers. .NET and Visual Studio is a strategic platform for our business, and Microsoft’s additional investments in the partner ecosystem make it even more compelling,” said Klaus Fellner, senior director of product marketing at dynaTrace. “We’re looking forward to taking advantage of the new technology available with the launch of Visual Studio 2008 and the partner benefits available through the Visual Studio Industry Partner (VSIP) program.”

In addition, Microsoft announced plans to create a shared source licensing program for Premier-level partners in the VSIP program. The program will provide these partners with the ability to view Visual Studio IDE source code for debugging purposes, and simplify the process of integrating their products with Visual Studio 2008.

Tools for Today and Tomorrow

Microsoft also announced a number of additional resources for developers of all skill sets, enabling them to make the most out of their Microsoft tools investments to build great applications on the latest platforms:

• The first CTP of the Microsoft Sync Framework demonstrates Microsoft’s ongoing investments in synchronization and builds on the synchronization functionality available in Visual Studio 2008. With Visual Studio 2008, developers can rapidly take advantage of offline synchronization capabilities to sync-enable applications and services easily with rich designer support. The Microsoft Sync Framework extends the support featured in Visual Studio 2008 to also include offline and peer-to-peer collaboration using any protocol for any data type, and any data store. This is part of Microsoft’s long-term commitment to providing synchronization for partners and independent software vendors that can embed the Sync Framework into their applications easily to create rich sync-enabled ecosystems that allow any type of data to follow their customers wherever they go.



• A new release of Popfly Explorer will add new Web tools that provide Web developers and Popfly users an easy way to add Silverlight gadgets built in Popfly to their Web pages, as well as publish HTML Web pages directly to Popfly.


These latest releases are part of the broader Microsoft Application Platform, a portfolio of technology capabilities and core products that help organizations develop, deploy and manage applications and IT infrastructure. They also mark another major milestone leading up to the global launch of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 on Feb. 27, 2008, in Los Angeles.

Product Information and Availability

Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 will be available by the end of November 2007. The .NET Framework 3.5 will also be available to end users via a free, optional download from Microsoft Update. A CTP of Microsoft Sync Framework is available today at http://msdn.microsoft.com/sync. Popfly Explorer is a hosted development environment available today at http://www.popfly.com. More information about all of these releases is available at http://www.msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio.

How many Java programmers does it take to round up to a power of two?

How many Java programmers does it take to round up to a power of two?
Well take a look:
http://forum.java.sun.com/thread.jspa?threadID=248212&start=0&tstart=0

Do you want to laugh or cry?

I don't know if I should laugh or cry after looking at this code. This could not have been written by a human right?

Anyway here it is, consider it a teaser. If you want to torture yourself and look at the whole query then go here: http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1421304&page=1



HAVING (((1 = 1)
AND (PP.Created >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900')
AND PP.Created < 1 =" 2)">= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900')
AND (MIN(PV.Visit)) < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))



WHERE
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL
AND pv.DoctorId IN (NULL))
OR(NULL IS NULL)
)



CASE
WHEN '0' = 1 THEN df.ListName
WHEN '0' = 2 THEN df2.ListName
WHEN '0' = 3 THEN ic.ListName
ELSE NULL
END


Someone will red flag the post, here is the whole query.


/* New Patient Analysis */

SET NOCOUNT ON

CREATE TABLE #PatientTemp
(
[PatientProfileId] [int] NOT NULL ,
[Prefix] [varchar] (10) NULL ,
[First] [varchar] (30) NULL ,
[Middle] [varchar] (30) NULL ,
[Last] [varchar] (30) NULL ,
[Suffix] [varchar] (20) NULL ,
[Created] [datetime] NOT NULL
)

Insert #PatientTemp

SELECT PP.PatientProfileId, PP.Prefix, PP.First, PP.Middle, PP.Last, PP.Suffix,
CASE
WHEN 1 = 1 THEN PP.Created
WHEN 1 = 2 THEN Min(PV.Visit)
ELSE NULL
END As Created

FROM PatientVisit PV
INNER JOIN PatientProfile PP ON PP.PatientProfileId = PV.PatientProfileId

GROUP BY PP.PatientProfileId, PP.Prefix, PP.First, PP.Middle, PP.Last, PP.Suffix, PP.Created

HAVING (((1 = 1)AND
(PP.Created >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900') AND PP.Created < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))
OR
((1 = 2)AND
((MIN(PV.Visit) >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900') AND (MIN(PV.Visit)) < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))

Order By PP.First, PP.Last

SELECT dbo.FormatName(#PatientTemp.Prefix, #PatientTemp.First, #PatientTemp.Middle, #PatientTemp.Last, #PatientTemp.Suffix) AS Name,
CASE
WHEN 1 = 1 THEN #PatientTemp.Created
WHEN 1 = 2 THEN Min(pv.Visit)
ELSE NULL
END As Created,
COUNT(*) AS [Number Of Visits],
SUM(pva.OrigInsAllocation + pva.OrigPatAllocation) AS Charges,
SUM(pva.InsPayment + pva.PatPayment) AS Payments,
CASE
WHEN '0' = 1 THEN df.ListName
WHEN '0' = 2 THEN df2.ListName
WHEN '0' = 3 THEN ic.ListName
ELSE NULLA
END As Grouping

FROM PatientVisit pv
INNER JOIN PatientVisitAgg pva ON pv.PatientVisitId = pva.PatientVisitId
INNER JOIN #PatientTemp ON pv.PatientProfileId = #PatientTemp.PatientProfileId
INNER JOIN DoctorFacility df ON pv.DoctorId = df.DoctorFacilityId
LEFT JOIN DoctorFacility df1 ON pv.ReferringDoctorId = df1.DoctorFacilityId
LEFT JOIN DoctorFacility df2 ON pv.FacilityId = df2.DoctorFacilityId
LEFT JOIN InsuranceCarriers ic ON ic.InsuranceCarriersId = pv.PrimaryInsuranceCarriersId

WHERE
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL AND pv.DoctorId IN (NULL)) OR
(NULL IS NULL)
)
AND
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL AND pv.ReferringDoctorId IN (NULL)) OR
(NULL IS NULL)
)
AND
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL AND pv.FacilityId IN (NULL)) OR
(NULL IS NULL)
)
AND --Filter on insurance carrier
(
(NULL IS NOT NULL AND ic.InsuranceCarriersId IN (NULL)) OR
(NULL IS NULL)
)

GROUP BY #PatientTemp.Created,dbo.FormatName(#PatientTemp.Prefix, #PatientTemp .First, #PatientTemp.Middle, #PatientTemp.Last, #PatientTemp.Suffix),
pva.PatientProfileId,
CASE
WHEN '0' = 1 THEN df.ListName
WHEN '0' = 2 THEN df2.ListName
WHEN '0' = 3 THEN ic.ListName
ELSE NULL
END

HAVING (((1 = 1)AND
(#PatientTemp.Created >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900') AND #PatientTemp.Created < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))
OR
((1 = 2)AND
((MIN(pv.Visit) >= ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/1900') AND (MIN(pv.Visit)) < DATEADD(d, 1, ISNULL(NULL,'1/1/3000')))
))

ORDER BY dbo.FormatName(#PatientTemp.Prefix, #PatientTemp.First, #PatientTemp.Middle, #PatientTemp.Last, #PatientTemp .Suffix), #PatientTemp.Created
Drop table #PatientTemp

Sort Values Ascending But NULLS Last

This is a frequent request in newsgroups and fora. People want to sort the column in ascending order but don't want the NULLS at the beginning.
Oracle has this syntax: ORDER BY ColumnName NULLS LAST;
SQL Server does not have this. But there are 2 ways to do this. The first one is by using case and the second one by using COALESCE and the maximum value for the data type in the order by clause.

The 2 approaches with a datetime data type

DECLARE @Temp table(Col datetime)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(getdate())
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2007-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2006-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2005-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2006-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES('2004-10-19 09:54:03.730')
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(NULL)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(NULL)

SELECT *
FROM @Temp
ORDER BY COALESCE(Col,'9999-12-31 23:59:59.997')

SELECT *
FROM @Temp
ORDER BY CASE WHEN Col Is NULL Then 1 Else 0 End, Col

The 2 approaches with an integer data type

DECLARE @Temp table(Col int)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(1)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(555)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(444)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(333)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(5656565)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(3)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(NULL)
INSERT INTO @Temp VALUES(NULL)

SELECT *
FROM @Temp
ORDER BY COALESCE(Col,'2147483647')

SELECT *
FROM @Temp
ORDER BY CASE WHEN Col Is NULL Then 1 Else 0 End, Col

Interview With Kalen Delaney About Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Query Tuning and Optimization

I am a big fan of Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005 The Storage Engine so when I saw that yet another book got published in this series I just had to check it out. Inside Microsoft SQL Server 2005: Query Tuning and Optimization is very well written gets to the point and give you the answers that you need. I decided to contact Kalen to see if she would be willing to do an interview, by now you know that the answer is yes of course ;-)


The question-and-answer session with Kalen that follows was conducted via email.

What is the audience for this book, is it the enterprise user or can a small department benefit from the tips in this book?
Because this book deals with query tuning, anyone who writes SQL queries for SQL Server can benefit. Very little in the book is geared towards system tuning, so the size of the machine doesn’t really matter. Now of course, if you have a very small system with very small tables, you won’t get as much benefit out of tuning your queries. However, if you have any tables of more than a few thousand rows, and you do any joins, you will need to tune your queries. In addition, the issues of blocking and concurrency control can impact any system, no matter how small.

What new technologies in SQL Server 2005 do you think are the most beneficial for performance?
For very large databases, the best new technology is partitioning. For any size system, if you have had serious performance problems due to blocking, you might find a big performance benefit by using one of the snapshot-based isolation levels, but you really need to understand the resource costs that come along with the improved performance. For your individual queries, I think the new optimizer hints and query level recompiles can make a big difference. For indexes, the ability to add included columns to nonclustered indexes can give some of your hard-to-tune queries a major performance boost.

What will a person who reads this book gain in terms of understanding how to performance tune a server?
The focus of this book is not so much on tuning the server, but on tuning queries. There is more in Inside SQL Server 2005: The Storage Engine on server issues such as memory and processor management. The biggest server wide issues are covered in Chapter 5, when I talk about managing the plan cache, and how and when query plans are reused.

Is the book geared towards a beginner/intermediate level user or do you have to be an advanced user to really utilize the information in this book?
The book is not geared towards beginners, but everyone should be able to get something out of it. It’s primarily geared to SQL Server developers and DBA’s who have been working with SQL Server for a while, and have encountered performance problems that they are trying to find solutions for.

With all the changes in SQL Server 2005, how critical has the tempdb become in regards to performance?
Tempdb has always been important. In SQL Server 2005, if you are using one of the snapshot-based isolation levels, you are going to have to be more aware of the demands placed on tempdb, both in the sizing requirements and the additional I/O resources needed. Fortunately, SQL Server 2005 provides tools to monitor tempdb, including a dozen new performance monitor counters, and a dynamic management view, sys.dm_db_file_space_usage, that keeps track of how much space in tempdb is being used for each of the different kind of object stored in tempdb.

I understand that this is the first time you wrote with a team of other writers; can you tell us something about that experience?
I initially thought that not having to write the whole volume by myself meant that I could get it done sooner, but that was not the case. Everyone had their own schedule and their own way of writing. The personal aspect of working with the other authors was great. I deeply respect all of the others and it was an honor to be working so closely with them. I had some concerns about the depth of coverage and I wondered whether all the chapters would end up being as deep as I hoped for, but that turned out not to be a major problem. The only real issues were agreeing on a common terminology and coding style, and even that wasn’t that big of an issue, because I got to do a final editing pass on everyone’s chapters.

What SQL Server books are on your bookshelf?
All of the Inside SQL Server books are there, of course, and all of Ken Henderson’s books. Bob Beauchemin’s book is in my car, to read while I am waiting for the ferryboat, and while on the ferry. I also have technical books that aren’t SQL Server specific, such as Jim Gray’s Transaction Processing, Russinovich’s and Solomon’s Windows Internals, Chris Date’s Introduction to Database Systems and Mike Stonebraker’s Readings in Database Systems.

Why do you write technical books?
I love working with SQL Server and trying to find out all I can about it. When I found that I could explain difficult concepts in a training environment, I thought I could do the same thing in a written format, and reach more people that way. I have always loved explaining things, ever since I was a teaching assistant for High School Math.

Will you be updating your books for SQL Server 2008?
I have just started meeting with my editors at Microsoft Press about SQL Server 2008, and it looks like a revision is in the plans. We’re really looking at it as just a revision, with the same structures as the current books, with straightforward changes and the inclusion of new features.

Name three things that are new in SQL Server 2005 that you find are the most valuable?
Dynamic Management Views, Dynamic Management Views, and Dynamic Management Views!
Oh, you wanted three different things? ;-) How about XML query plans and optimization hints. (I’m also very fond of many of the new TSQL constructs, but I was only talking about things that I cover in my new book.)

Name three things which are coming in SQL Server 2008 that you are most excited about?
You’ll have to ask me this next time. I have actually been avoiding SQL Server 2008 while I was getting my Query Tuning and Optimization book finished, because I didn’t want to get distracted.

Can you list any third party tools that you find useful to have as a SQL Server developer/admin?
I’ve tried a few other products, but usefully I find that it is much easier to just stick with the Microsoft line and use the tools provided with the product.

Name some of your favorite non-technical books.
Oh, I love to read. It would be impossible to list my favorite books, but I can tell you my favorite authors, most of whom write science fiction: Lois McMaster Bujold, Ursula LeGuin, Sheri Tepper, Orson Scott Card, Octavia Butler, Elizabeth Moon. I also love to read historical fiction like Leon Uris.

SQL Server 2008 Whitepapers

There are some good katmai whitepapers appearing on microsoft.com.
The list is available here http://www.microsoft.com/sql/2008/learning/whitepapers.mspx.

Performance and Scale http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_perfandscale.mspx

Manageability http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_manageability.mspx

Delivering location intelligence with spatial data http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/spatialdata.mspx

SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_ssrs.mspx

What's new for XML in SQL Server 2008 http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_xml.mspx

Managing unstructured data http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_unstructured.mspx

Server consolidation http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/hosting_sql_srv_consol.mspx

Data warehousing
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql-for-datawarehousing_2008.mspx

Data Programmability http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_dp.mspx

SQL Teaser: Guess the output

What do you think will be the output?


DECLARE @d datetime
SET @d = '20071010'

SELECT DATEADD(yy, DATEDIFF(yy, 0, @d)+1, -1)

After that run this to see how to get first and last days for years, quarters, months and weeks(be careful of ISO weeks!)

DECLARE @d datetime
SET @d = '20071010'

SELECT DATEADD(yy, DATEDIFF(yy, 0, @d), 0) as FirstDayOfYear,
DATEADD(yy, DATEDIFF(yy, 0, @d)+1, -1) as LastDayOfYear,
DATEADD(qq, DATEDIFF(qq, 0, @d), 0) as FirstDayOfQuarter,
DATEADD(qq, DATEDIFF(qq, 0, @d)+1, -1) as LastDayOfQuarter,
DATEADD(mm, DATEDIFF(mm, 0, @d), 0) as FirstDayOfMonth,
DATEADD(mm, DATEDIFF(mm, 0, @d)+1, -1) as LastDayOfMonth,
DATEADD(wk, DATEDIFF(wk, 0, @d), 0) as FirstDayOfWeek,
DATEADD(wk, DATEDIFF(wk, 0, @d)+1, -1) as LastDayOfWeek

Self-paced Course: What's New in Microsoft SQL Server 2008

In this clinic, you will learn about the new and enhanced features included in SQL Server 2008. You will explore the new data types and the data management features. Additionally, you will learn about the enhanced Integration Services, Analysis Services, and Reporting Services included in SQL Server 2008. This online clinic is composed of a rich multimedia experience.

To get the most out of this clinic, it is recommended that you have:

• Knowledge of general SQL database concepts that are largely independent of a specific version of SQL Server
  
• Knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 features
  
• Knowledge of deploying and upgrading database solutions
  
• Knowledge of how to solve performance issues related to SQL Server hardware
  
• Performed the job role of a SQL Server 2005 database administrator or database developer
  
• Product or technology experience in Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or SQL Server 2005

Objectives:
At the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Describe the features of SQL Server 2008 and their benefits.
  
• Describe the features of enterprise data platform that help you to secure data in applications.
  
• Describe the dynamic development features that facilitate the development of database applications.
  
• Describe the features of SQL Server 2008 that provide data storage solutions beyond relational databases.
  
• Describe the enhanced features in SSIS that help you to integrate data effectively.
  
• Describe the enhanced features in SSAS that help you to improve the BI infrastructure.
  
• Describe the enhanced features in SSRS that help you to improve the scalability of the reporting engine.

Modules & Lessons

Clinic Overview
Module Introduction
Navigation Overview
Clinic Information

What’s New in SQL Server 2008
Module Introduction

Overview of SQL Server 2008
Lesson Introduction
Enhancements in SQL Server 2008
New Features of SQL Server 2008
Self Test

Enterprise Data Platform
Lesson Introduction
Methods for Data Encryption
Security Auditing for Data Protection
Resource Management Features
Benefits of the Resource Governor Tool
System Analysis Features
Server Management Features
Self Test

Dynamic Development
Lesson Introduction
Data Entities in SQL Server 2008
Data Synchronizing Features
Self Test

Beyond Relational Databases
Lesson Introduction
New Data Types
Spatial Data Type
Table-Value Parameters in SQL Server 2008
Features of Integrated Full-Text Search in SQL Server 2008
Self Test

Pervasive Insight in Integration Services
Lesson Introduction
Data Integration Features
The MERGE Statement in SQL Server 2008
Self Test

Pervasive Insight in Analysis Services
Lesson Introduction
Enhanced Features in Analysis Services
How the Block Computation Feature Works
Self Test

Pervasive Insight in Reporting Services
Lesson Introduction
How Reporting Services Work
Features for Microsoft Office 2007 Integration
The Report Authoring Tool
Report Builder Enhancements
What Is Tablix?
Self Test
Module Summary

Glossary
Module Introduction


Start here: https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/offerDetail.aspx?offerPriceId=128041

LAMP + Porn = perfect Job?

Found this here:http://jobs.perl.org/job/6883

Senior Software Engineer – Linux/Apache/Mysql/Perl

We are a small, San Francisco-based company seeking a lead software engineer/architect to take over development of our subscription-based adult video web site. You will work with our fabulously talented product manager, marketer, and engineering support to improve our service and take it to new levels of traffic and success.



You must be extremely skilled in the following technologies, so that you can both keep the current site running and extend it:



Linux (packaging systems, network configuration, debugging, tweaking)
Perl (in the form of command line scripts, cgi scripts, and complete libraries)
Apache (building and tweaking the 1.3 variants, and the mod_perl module)
MySQL (SQL and performance tuning)
Java (from servlets to applications; including Hibernate, Spring, Log4j and other open source java libraries/frameworks)
Subversion


Additionally, you must be very familiar with the following technologies that you will encounter, or the ability to quickly come up to speed on them:



C/C++
Python
MPlayer/FFmpeg
Lucene
Lighttpd
Perlbal




You possess the skill-sets of both a system administrator and programmer. You can set up and configure a server to make it do what you want; you can discover, configure and compile applications to make them do what you want; and you can write the code to customize and tie all these things together. There is no part of a system that you are afraid to venture into, nor do you find application writing boring or too complex.



You are a developer who can do anything that you put your mind too; and you live and breathe open source software. You are goals focused, and take great pride in completing and optimizing working applications. You can communicate with business people to find out what needs to be done and how it should be prioritized, and you have the confidence and skill to make it happen. You know the latest tools and technologies that are available that might replace what we’ve got. You actively seek this information and are always looking for better ways to do things.



Finally, you have no problem serving up gigabytes and gigabytes of pornography. In fact, you find the challenge of pushing out a sustained 3Gb/s of pornography to be an extremely interesting engineering problem.



Required skills: Perl/mod_perl
LAMP

How to find out the recovery model for all databases on SQL Server 2000, 2005 and 2008

How do you find out the recovery model for all the databases on your SQL Server box?
On a SQL Server 2005/2008 box you can use the sys.databases view, the sys.databases view returns a column named recovery_model_desc.
On a SQL server 2000 box you will have to use the DATABASEPROPERTYEX function. The 2000 version will also work on 2000 and 2008 (I tested this with the July CTP)


--2005/2008 version
SELECT [name],
recovery_model_desc
FROM sys.databases


--2000/2005/2008 version
SELECT [name],
DATABASEPROPERTYEX([name],'Recovery') AS recovery_model_desc
FROM master..sysdatabases

SQL Teaser: Guess the output

Here is a small teaser, can you guess the output?


SELECT d.c-d.b/d.a
FROM(SELECT 1,2,5)d(a,b,c)

Screencast: SQL Server Analysis Services what's in it for me?

SQL Server Analysis Services is a very powerful tool, which was introduced with SQL Server 2000. In SQL Server 2005 it is far more powerful, but still underappreciated by a lot of developers. This is a quick and dirty attempt to convey the value of Analysis Services cubes in under ten minutes. Related Resources:

SQL Server Analysis Services Home
Microsoft Business Intelligence Home
SQL Server Analysis Services on MSDN

Watch the screencast(WMV)

SQL Teaser PASS Special: Table Size

What will be the outcome of this script?
First we create a table with a total of 6000 bytes
Next we increase col2 from 1000 to 2000 bytes, this will give us a total of 7000 bytes
Finally we add col3 which has 1000 bytes, this will give us a total of 8000 bytes

First run these two statements
--Total size = 6000
CREATE TABLE TestSize (Col1 char(5000),col2 char(1000))
GO

--total size = 7000
ALTER TABLE TestSize
ALTER COLUMN col2 char(2000)
GO

Now what do you think will happen when you run this?

--total size should be 8000 bytes (5000 + 2000 + 1000)
ALTER TABLE TestSize
ADD Col3 char(1000)
GO

Now for bonus points. What book have I been reading.

Hint: the author is at PASS

SQL Injection Cheat Sheet

What is SQL Injection? From wikipedia: SQL injection is a technique that exploits a security vulnerability occurring in the database layer of an application. The vulnerability is present when user input is either incorrectly filtered for string literal escape characters embedded in SQL statements or user input is not strongly typed and thereby unexpectedly executed

Here is a nice SQL injection cheat sheet. Currently only for MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server, some ORACLE and some PostgreSQL

http://ferruh.mavituna.com/makale/sql-injection-cheatsheet/

Table Of Contents
About SQL Injection Cheat Sheet
Syntax Reference, Sample Attacks and Dirty SQL Injection Tricks

Line Comments
SQL Injection Attack Samples

Inline Comments
Classical Inline Comment SQL Injection Attack Samples
MySQL Version Detection Sample Attacks

Stacking Queries
Language / Database Stacked Query Support Table
About MySQL and PHP
Stacked SQL Injection Attack Samples

If Statements
MySQL If Statement
SQL Server If Statement
If Statement SQL Injection Attack Samples

Using Integers

String Operations
String Concatenation

Strings without Quotes
Hex based SQL Injection Samples

String Modification & Related

Union Injections
UNION – Fixing Language Issues

Bypassing Login Screens

Enabling xp_cmdshell in SQL Server 2005
Other parts are not so well formatted but check out by yourself, drafts, notes and stuff, scroll down and see.

Cumulative update package 3 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 is available

Cumulative update package 3 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 is available.

How to obtain Cumulative Update 3 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2
A supported cumulative update package is now available from Microsoft. However, it is intended to correct only the problems that are described in this article. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing these specific problems. This cumulative update package may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by any of these problems, we recommend that you wait for the next SQL Server 2005 service pack that contains the hotfixes in this cumulative update package.

To resolve this problem, submit a request to Microsoft Online Customer Services to obtain the cumulative update package. To submit an online request to obtain the cumulative update package, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6294451

Here is what is fixed:
50001581
938243 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938243/)
FIX: Error message when you run a full-text query against a catalog in SQL Server 2005: “The execution of a full-text query failed. The content index is corrupt."

50001585
938712 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938712/)
FIX: Some records in the fact table may not be processed when you process a dimension that contains many attributes or many members in SQL Server 2005

50001499
938962 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938962/)
FIX: You may receive an access violation or error 942 when you drop a database in SQL Server 2005

50001524
939563 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939563/)
FIX: Error message when you synchronize a merge replication in Microsoft SQL Server 2005: "MSmerge_del_, Line 42 String or binary data would be truncated"

50001582
939942 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939942/)
FIX: You receive an error message when you try to access a report after you configure SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services to run under the SharePoint integrated mode

50001583
940128 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940128/)
FIX: You receive error 8623 when you run a complex query in SQL Server 2005

50001586
940129 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940129/)
FIX: An MDX query does not return results when you execute the query against a cube that contains an unnatural hierarchy in a dimension in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services

50001517
940160 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940160/)
FIX: Error message when you deploy a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Service project that contains many cubes, and the cubes contain linked measure groups: "Unexpected internal error"

50001449
940210 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940210/)
FIX: Error message when you try to insert more than 3 megabytes of data into a distributed partitioned view in SQL Server 2005: "A system assertion check has failed"

50001447
940220 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940220/)
FIX: Error message when you run a SQL Server 2005 Integration Services package that contains an FTP task: “An error occurred in the requested FTP operation"

50001448
940221 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940221/)
FIX: Error message when you try to create an Oracle publication by using the New Publication Wizard in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2: “OLE DB Provider "OraOLEDB.ORACLE" for Linked server returned message "ORA-02074: Cannot RO

50001451
940223 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940223/)
FIX: Error message when you synchronize a subscription by using Windows Synchronization Manager in SQL Server 2005: “The merge process failed to get correct information about the Interactive Resolver component from the Registry"

50001416
940260 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940260/)
FIX: Error message when you use Service Broker in SQL Server 2005: "An error occurred while receiving data: '64(The specified network name is no longer available.)'"

50001435
940269 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940269/)
FIX: Error message when you try to edit a SQL Server Agent job or a maintenance plan by using SQL Server Management Studio in SQL Server 2005: "String or binary data would be truncated"

50001567
940281 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940281/)
FIX: An access violation may occur, and you may receive an error message, when you query the sys.dm_exe_sessions dynamic management view in SQL Server 2005

50001351
940370 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940370/)
FIX: The "User:" prefix is lost for the event information that is generated by a child package in SQL Server 2005 Integration Services after you install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2

50001382
940373 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940373/)
FIX: The performance of a Multidimensional Expressions query in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services Service Pack 2 is much slower than the performance in earlier builds of SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services

50001433
940378 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940378/)
Fix: Unable to Change Transaction Isolation Level After Cursor Declaration

50001479
940384 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940384/)
FIX: You receive a System.InvalidCastException exception when you run an application that calls the Server.JobServer.Jobs.Contains method on a computer that has SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 installed

50001494
940386 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940386/)
FIX: You cannot install SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies on a beta version of Windows Server 2008-based computer

50001602
940545 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940545/)
FIX: The performance of insert operations against a table that contains an identity column may be slow in SQL Server 2005

50001589
940935 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940935/)
FIX: Error message when you run a parallel query in SQL Server 2005 on a computer that has multiple processors: “SQL Server Assertion: File: , line=10850 Failed Assertion = 'GetLocalLockPartition () == xactLockInfo->GetLocalLockPartition ()'"

50001599
940937 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940937/)
FIX: Error message when you try to update the index key columns of a non-unique clustered index in SQL Server 2005: " Cannot insert duplicate key row in object 'ObjectName' with unique index 'IndexName'"

50001609
940939 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940939/)
FIX: Data is not rolled back after you roll back a transaction that contains a writeback operation in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services

50001629
940942 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940942/)
FIX: Error message when you run a stored procedure that references a table that is upgraded from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005: “A time-out occurred while waiting for buffer latch"

50001573
940949 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940949/)
FIX: You receive an error message when you run an UPDATE CUBE statement to update a cube in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services

50001576
940962 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940962/)
FIX: When processing a dimension on SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services an error is raised with the following format: "The following file is corrupted: Physical file: \\?\\MSMDBuildLevelStores_avl_672_29775_njzs2.tmp. Logical file ."

50001511
940126 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940126/)
FIX: Error 9003 is logged in the SQL Server error log file when you use log shipping in SQL Server 2005

50001436
940379 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940379/)
FIX: Error message when you use the UNLOAD and REWIND options to back up a database to a tape device in SQL Server 2005: "Operation on device '' exceeded retry count"

50001412
940375 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940375/)
FIX: Error message when you use the Copy Database Wizard to move a database from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005

50001522
939562 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939562/)
FIX: Error message when you run a query that fires an INSTEAD OF trigger in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2: "Internal Query Processor Error The query processor could not produce a query plan"

50001224
937100 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937100/)
FIX: Error message when you run a SQL Server 2005 Integration Services package that contains a Script Component transformation: "Insufficient memory to continue the execution of the program"

50001415
940377 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940377/)
FIX: Error message when you process cubes for one of the named instances of SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services: "Error opening file"

50001523
938363 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938363/)
FIX: Data is not replicated to a subscriber in a different partition by using parameterized row filters in SQL Server 2005

50001529
940945 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940945/)
FIX: Performance is very slow when the same stored procedure is executed at the same time in many connections on a multiple-processor computer that is running SQL Server 2005

50001578
939285 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939285/)
FIX: Error message when you run a stored procedure that starts a transaction that contains a Transact-SQL statement in SQL Server 2005: "New request is not allowed to start because it should come with valid transaction descriptor"

50001525
938086 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938086/)
FIX: A SQL Server Agent job fails when you run the SQL Server Agent job in the context of a proxy account in SQL Server 2005

50000872
936252 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936252/)
The file name of Cumulative Update 3 for SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 is incorrectly associated with Microsoft Knowledge Base article 936252

50000872
The MDX query performance is slow in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services because SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services does not reuse the data cache
50001109
The dta utility stops unexpectedly and an exception occurs in SQL Server 2005
50001224
When you run a SQL Server 2005 Integration Services package that uses the VariableDispenser class, the package fails and you receive an error message
50001365
After you install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2, you receive error 8624 if the result set of a fast forward cursor contains a certain number of columns
50001368
After you install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2, the performance of a MDX query is 10 times slower than the performance on SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services build 1555
50001396
When you open a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services report after you install SQL Server 2005 Service pack 2, the parameter toolbar and the report toolbar does not appear correctly if you specify the SP_Full value for the rc:StyleSheet URL access parameter on a report URL
50001412
Error message when you use the Copy Database Wizard to move a database from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005: "Cannot drop database "Database_Name" because it is currently in use.". Possible failure reasons: Problems with the query, "ResultSet" property not set correctly, parameters not set correctly, or connection not established correctly"
50001414
Error message when you use the bcp utility together with the queryout option to bulk copy data from SQL Server 2005 to a file: "SQLState = HY000, NativeError = 0 Error = [Microsoft][SQL Native Client]BCP host-files must contain at least onecolumn"
50001415
After you install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2, the Msmdredir.ini file is frequently updated by each instance of SQL Server 2005
50001436
Error message when you use the BACKUP DATABASE statement together with the UNLOAD option and with the REWIND option to back up a tape device in SQL Server 2005: "Operation on device 'TAPE0(<\\.\Tape0>)' exceeded retry count"
50001461
When some MDX queries are executed at the same for the same role or for the same user in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services, the CPU usage is very high
50001475
When you open a report that contains a date and time picker (DTP) control in SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services, the format of the DTP control appears incorrectly
50001511
Error 9003 occurs when you restore a transaction log backup in SQL Server 2005
50001520
The query syntax of a report is changed when you run the report in SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Service Pack 2 on SAP BW 3.5
50001522
Error 8624 occurs when you run a query in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later versions. However, you can successfully run the query in pre-SP2 version of SQL Server 2005
50001523
After you install SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2, publications that use precomputed partitions can cause the non-convergence of data
50001525
Error message when you use SQL Server Agent to run jobs by using a proxy account: " SQLServer Error: 22046, Encryption error using CryptProtectData, CryptUnprotectData failed (1723)"
50001526
Using SQL Server Agent to run jobs in the context of a proxy account may fail with error "SQLServer Error: 22046, Encryption error using CryptProtectData, CryptUnprotectData failed (1723)"
50001529
The performance of SQL Server 2005 decreases because SQL Server 2005 is waiting for access to memory objects which is indicated by the CMEMTHREAD waittype
50001578
An exception occurs in SQL Native Client: "New request is not allowed to start because it should come with valid transaction descriptor"
50001579
When you use SQL Native Client to retrieve a value in a column of the TEXT data type, you obtain incorrect result if the value contains more than 1024 characters
50001580
Memory leak of the TokenAndPermAccessCheckResult entries occurs in SQL Server 2005
50001595
When you use SQL Native Client for a connection, the connection switches to use the auto-commit mode from the manually-commit mode
50001598
SQL Native Client overwrite error codes which causes that you do not receive informative error messages when some operations fails
50001639
The performance of an INSERT statement or an UPDATE statement that uses the result from a query is much slower in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 than in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 or earlier versions if the query uses the nodes method
50001164
FIX: Error message when you connect to an instance of SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services by using the AMO library that is included with SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 Analysis Services: "Cannot connect to Analysis Services version '10.0.1019.17'"

SQL Gotcha: Do you know what data type is used when running ad-hoc queries?

This is for SQL Server 2000 only, SQL Server 2005 is a lot smarter which is another reason to upgrade.
When running the following query you probably already know that 2 is converted to an int datatype


SELECT *
FROM Table
WHERE ID =2

What about the value 2222222222? Do you think since it can't fit into an int that it will be a bigint? Let's test that out.
First create this table.

CREATE TABLE TestAdHoc (id bigint primary key)

INSERT INTO TestAdHoc
SELECT 1 UNION
SELECT 2433253453453466666 UNION
SELECT 2 UNION
SELECT 3 UNION
SELECT 4 UNION
SELECT 5 UNION
SELECT 6


Now let's run these 2 queries which return the same data

SELECT *
FROM TestAdHoc
WHERE ID =2433253453453466666



SELECT *
FROM TestAdHoc
WHERE ID =CONVERT(bigint,2433253453453466666)

Now run the following SET statement and run the 2 queries again

SET SHOWPLAN_TEXT ON

SELECT *
FROM TestAdHoc
WHERE ID =2433253453453466666


SELECT *
FROM TestAdHoc
WHERE ID =CONVERT(bigint,2433253453453466666)

And what do we see?

First Query
--Nested Loops(Inner Join, OUTER REFERENCES:([Expr1002], [Expr1003], [Expr1004]))
--Compute Scalar(DEFINE:([Expr1002]=Convert([@1])-1,
[Expr1003]=Convert([@1])+1, [Expr1004]=If (Convert([@1])-1=NULL)
then 0 else 6If (Convert([@1])+1=NULL) then 0 else 10))
--Constant Scan
--Clustered Index Seek(OBJECT:([Blog].[dbo].[TestAdHoc].[PK__TestAdHoc__2818EA29]),
SEEK:([TestAdHoc].[id] > [Expr1002] AND [TestAdHoc].[id] < [Expr1003]), WHERE:(Convert([TestAdHoc].[id])=[@1]) ORDERED FORWARD)

Second Query
--Clustered Index Seek(OBJECT:([Blog].[dbo].[TestAdHoc].[PK__TestAdHoc__2818EA29]),
SEEK:([TestAdHoc].[id]=2433253453453466666) ORDERED FORWARD)


The first query has a much different execution plan than the second query. The first execution plan has a lot more than the second execution plan and will be a little slower.

So how do you know what dataype the value is converted to? Here is a simple SQL query which I first saw on Louis Davidson's blog. Just run this query.

SELECT CAST(SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(2433253453453466666,'BaseType') AS varchar(20)) + '(' +
CAST(SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(2433253453453466666,'Precision') AS varchar(10)) + ',' +
CAST(SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(2433253453453466666,'Scale') AS varchar(10)) + ')'

So the output is this numeric(19,0). So instead of a bigint SQL Server converts the value to a numeric data type.
Here is another query which demonstrates the different datatypes used.


SELECT CAST(SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(2,'BaseType') AS varchar(20))
UNION ALL
SELECT CAST(SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(222222222,'BaseType') AS varchar(20))
UNION ALL
SELECT CAST(SQL_VARIANT_PROPERTY(2222222222,'BaseType') AS varchar(20))


So when running ad-hoc queries it is always a good practice to use parameters or inline convert statements.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP 4 Released

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 CTP 4 has been released 20070831 (yes that is ISO format)
So I have been sleeping for the last couple of days and missed this. Connect didn't email me either ;-(

This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. This allows you to trial SQL Server 2008 CTP 4 in a virtual environment.

Get it here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=6a39affa-db6e-48a9-82e4-4efd6705f4a6&displaylang=en&tm