SQL Server Code,Tips and Tricks, Performance Tuning

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Create Procedures That Run At SQL Server Startup

Let's say you have a table and you want to make sure that you clear it every time SQL Server is restarted
What would be the easiest way to accomplish that? Well you can create a procedure and have it execute every time the SQL Server is restarted
The procedure has to be created in the master database, after it is created you have to use sp_procoption to have the procedure execute when SQL Server starts up

--Let's create our procedure
USE master
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE prStartUp
AS
SELECT GETDATE()
--You would do something real here
--like deleting the data
GO

--Make the procedure execute when the server starts up
sp_procoption prStartUp,startup,'on'

--This will return the proc name since we enabled the ExecIsStartup property
SELECT name FROM sysobjects
WHERE xtype = 'p'
AND OBJECTPROPERTY(id, 'ExecIsStartup') = 1

--disable the execution of the proc on start up
sp_procoption prStartUp,startup,'off'

--Let's check again, no rows should be returned now
SELECT name FROM sysobjects
WHERE xtype = 'p'
AND OBJECTPROPERTY(id, 'ExecIsStartup') = 1

Monday, March 06, 2006

Returning Grouped Random Results

Let's say you have data and you want to return this random but grouped, what do I mean by that? For example you have the following data
sony 4
sony 6
toshiba 1
toshiba 3
mitsubishi 2
mitsubishi 5

When you rerun the query you want the order to be different but the companies have to be grouped together. So the next result could be something like this

toshiba 1
toshiba 3
sony 4
sony 6
mitsubishi 2
mitsubishi 5

To order a result set randomly every single time is easy you just have to add ORDER BY NEWID() and it will be different every single time

To order randomly and keeping it 'ordered/grouped' by company is a little bit trickier
Below are 2 ways to accomplish that. The first way is with a sub query the second is by using RAND and CHECKSUM
If you run the two queries at the same time and look at the execution plan you will notice that the query cost for the query with the sub query is 66.75% (relative to the batch) and for the query with RAND and CHECKSUM it's only 33.25%

For those of you who don't know how to see the execution plan, this is how you do that
CTRL + K (you can also select Query-->Show Execution Plan from the menu bar) then highlight both queries and press F5. Between Grids and Messages you will see a new tab named Execution Plan, click on that tab and you will see a graphical representation of the execution plan

CREATE TABLE #Testcompanies (
Name VARCHAR(50),
ID INT)

INSERT INTO #Testcompanies
SELECT 'toshiba' ,1
UNION ALL
SELECT 'mitsubishi', 2
UNION ALL
SELECT 'toshiba', 3
UNION ALL
SELECT 'sony', 4
UNION ALL
SELECT 'mitsubishi', 5
UNION ALL
SELECT 'sony', 6

--Query using a sub query and NEWID()
SELECT T.*
FROM #Testcompanies T
JOIN (SELECT DISTINCT TOP 100 PERCENT Name,
NEWID() AS GroupedOrder
FROM #Testcompanies
GROUP BY Name
ORDER BY NEWID()) Z
ON T.Name = Z.Name
ORDER BY Z.GroupedOrder

--Query using RAND()
DECLARE @R FLOAT
SET @R = RAND()

SELECT TOP 100 PERCENT *
FROM #TESTCOMPANIES
ORDER BY RAND(@R * CHECKSUM(NAME))

Conversation With Database Legend Jim Gray

Channel 9 has an interesting video with Turing award winner Jim Gray. From the website: "This episode features Jim Gray. He is a "Technical Fellow" in the Scaleable Servers Research Group (Sky Server, Terra Server) and manager of Microsoft's Bay Area Research Center (BARC). Jim has been called a "giant" in the fields of database and transaction processing computer systems. In 1998, Jim was awarded the ACM’s prestigious A.M. Turing Award.

Before joining Microsoft, Jim worked at Digital Equipment Corp (DEC)., Tandem Computers Inc., IBM Corp. and AT&T and he is the editor of the “Performance Handbook for Database and Transaction Processing Systems,” and co-author of “Transaction Processing: Concepts and Techniques.” In this interview, Jim is joined by former colleague from DEC and partner on the Terra Server project, Researcher, Tom Barclay."

Pro SQL Server 2005 Assemblies

Pro SQL Server 2005 Assemblies provides a detailed and example-driven tutorial on how to build and use .NET assemblies. The authors focus on building assemblies in C#, but also provide the equivalent VB .NET code in the supplied code download.

Assemblies are not a complete replacement for T-SQL stored procedures and triggers; rather, they’re enhancements, to be used at the right place and right time. This book examines the ins and outs of assemblies—when they should and should not be used, what you can do with them, and how you can get the most out of them.

Table Of Contents
CHAPTER 1 Introducing Assemblies
CHAPTER 2 Writing a Simple SQL Assembly
CHAPTER 3 The SQL Server NET Programming Model
CHAPTER 4 CLR Stored Procedures
CHAPTER 5 User-Defined Functions
CHAPTER 6 User-Defined Types
CHAPTER 7 User-Defined Aggregates
CHAPTER 8 CLR Triggers
CHAPTER 9 Error Handling and Debugging Strategies
CHAPTER 10 Security
CHAPTER 11 Integrating Assemblies with Other Technologies
INDEX

Sample Chapter: The SQL Server NET Programming Model

Amazon link here

Sunday, March 05, 2006

SQL Server Cursors Not Always Evil

By know you probably heard a thousand times not to use cursors but to use a set based solution instead. Cursors are bad, almost everything that can be written in a cursor can be rewritten to use a set based approach etc etc etc. Well SQL Server MVP Adam Machanic has a great post on his blog that will show you that a cusrsor sometimes is actually faster than a set based solution. Read the post Running sums, redux
A day later Adam created another entry on his blog, this time using SQLCLR code to rewrite the cursor code and improving the execution time by 25%. You can read that entry here (Running sums yet again: SQLCLR saves the day!)
So as you can see cursors do have a place in SQL Server and are sometimes a better option

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Find All tables That Contain A Certain Column

This question was posted today on the tek-tips site and also in the microsoft.public.sqlserver.programming newsgroup
The question was how to find all tables that contain a certain column
For example return all tables that have the column OrderID in the Northwind database
You can get all that information from the INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS system view, however that view returns tables as well as views
You have to join with INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES and that view contains a column named TABLE_TYPE that you can use to filter on the type (BASE TABLE or VIEW)
I have only selected a couple of columns from the views, use * to see them all

USE Northwind
GO

SELECT c.TABLE_NAME,
TABLE_TYPE,
COLUMN_NAME,
ORDINAL_POSITION,
IS_NULLABLE,
DATA_TYPE,
NUMERIC_PRECISION
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS c
JOIN INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES t ON c.TABLE_NAME = t.TABLE_NAME
WHERE COLUMN_NAME ='orderid'
ORDER BY TABLE_TYPE ,c.TABLE_NAME

Monday, February 27, 2006

SQL Server Upgrade Your Skills To 2005 Webcasts

Are you planning new database development projects this year? Do you need to increase the scale, performance, security, or continuous availability of your existing systems to meet the demands of the business? Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is here, bringing significant enhancements in performance, availability, and security and the most powerful and flexible set of DBA productivity tools we have ever delivered. Our subject matter experts walk through all of the major features and enhancements built into SQL Server 2005 and demonstrate how you can bring these benefits to your organization. Topics covered include SQL Server 2005 management tools, security enhancements, high availability features, replication, and scalability. Also, tune in weekly through June 2006 as Microsoft MVP and Regional Director Kimberly Tripp and her colleagues present an 11-part series on building robust, recoverable, and reliable SQL Server 2005 systems.

Live Webcasts
TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 1 of 11): A Fast-Paced Feature Overview and Series Introduction (Level 200)
Friday, March 10, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

This first webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series presents the new features designed to help improve administration, management, and operations. This webcast provides an overview of new features, how they fit together, and best practices for each. Building a robust, recoverable, and reliable system requires knowledge, best practices, and finding the right tool for the job. Join this series to learn how to build the foundation for success.

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 2 of 11): Security (Level 200)
Friday, March 17, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

Securing SQL Server system requires a variety of defenses. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 provides numerous mechanisms to reduce the attackable surface area, from features that are configured "off by default" to more complex features that can encrypt data to defend against rogue file copies of the database. Understanding how to deploy the wide selection of development and administrative options securely can be complex. In this second webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series, learn about best practices for sorting through the options to optimally secure SQL Server 2005. Additionally, this webcast addresses security issues such as protecting and recovering data as it relates to encryption key escrow and recovery.

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server for the IT Professional (Part 3 of 11): Understanding Installation Options and Initial Configuration (Level 200)
Friday, March 24, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

Graphical installation requires you to continually click next through the options with the idea that you can always change the settings later. We believe there is a much better way. Make the right decisions at installation to ensure a more secure and properly configured environment. In this third webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series, we present Service Account options, Authentication Mode, secure sockets layer (SSL) security (without installing SSL), password requirements, and installation directory structures. We explain code page and sort order selection for new and upgraded installations. The session wraps up with the changes necessary immediately after installation: setting the system administrator (SA) password and using the SQL Surface Area Configuration tool and Configuration Manager.

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 4 of 11): Upgrade Considerations and Migration Paths (Level 200)
Friday, March 31, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

In this fourth webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series, we help you prepare your migration path to minimize potential failures. In the first half of this session learn how to use the Upgrade Advisor and what to look for in your existing databases. The second half helps you to understand your options and explains the Copy Database Wizard, Detach/Attach, and Backup/Restore features. Join us to create a careful and easy test plan today so that your migration is easy tomorrow!

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 5 of 11): Effective Use of the New Management Tools (Level 200)
Friday, April 7, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 introduces a new set of tools that are a radical departure from previous versions. If you want to avoid a steep learning curve attend this fifth webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series, presented by Kimberly Tripp, to discover the new features designed to make the database administration and database development teams more effective and productive. Understanding the impact of the Microsoft Visual Studio shell—and where SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) diverges from the standard shell—can help you to use SSMS more effectively. The primary focus of this webcast is on solutions, projects, customizing the query tool, and source control integration.

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 6 of 11): New Application Design Patterns for Scalability and Availability and the Operational Implications of Service Broker (Level 200)
Friday, April 14, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

SQL Service Broker is an integral part of the database in Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Understanding why developers may choose to use this is one part of the picture, but some internal SQL Server features use it as well. In this sixth webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series, we present what new data objects comprise Service Broker, what new SQL statements you need to know about, and how you manage it, secure it, and monitor it, along with information about when it is appropriate to consider a Broker-based application. Join us to learn about dynamic management views and profiler support, in addition to how you can troubleshoot operational problems. The webcast also explains the internal functions run by Service Broker and how they work.

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 7 of 11): Technologies and Features to Improve Availability (Level 200)
Friday, April 21, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

Find the right technology for the job in this seventh webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series. Join us to learn which technologies provide the right solution for a specific problem, as well as the pros and cons of each technology. Designing a system to protect you against the faults most likely to occur is the first and most important strategy, but finding the right combination to minimize both downtime and data loss is critical. This webcast covers all of the “Availability” technologies at a glance: remote mirroring, failover clustering, database mirroring, log hipping, replication, redundant array of independent disks (RAID), partial database availability, piecemeal online restore, database snapshots, snapshot isolation, and online operations.

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 8 of 11): Implementing Database Mirroring in SQL Server 2005 (Part 1 of 2) (Level 200)
Friday, April 28, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

Database mirroring was released for testing when Microsoft SQL Server 2005 shipped as a product. As we approach the first service pack, get prepared for the release of database mirroring for general production use and understand the barriers of what database mirroring will protect against. Attend this first part in the eighth webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series to obtain better insight for when database mirroring should be implemented as well as what to expect moving forward in service pack 1 (SP1).

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 9 of 11): Implementing Database Mirroring (Part 2 of 2) (Level 200)
Friday, May 5, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

After learning about what database mirroring provides—as well as the changes to expect in service pack 1(SP1)—attend this second part in the ninth webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series to walk through the entire process of implementation, failover, and monitoring. Join us for this slide-free session; it’s all about the demos.

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 10 of 11): Recovering from Human Error (Level 200)
Friday, May 12, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 provides a variety of new features to help deal with the possibility of human error with preventative techniques, investigative techniques, and recovery techniques. Join this tenth webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series as we look at data definition language (DDL) triggers, event notifications, partial database availability, partial database restores, and database snapshots.

TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional (Part 11 of 11): Best Practices in Building Robust, Recoverable, and Reliable Systems (Level 200)
Friday, May 19, 2006 9:30 A.M.–11:00 A.M. Pacific Time

In this eleventh and last webcast of the SQL Server 2005 for the IT Professional series, Kimberly Tripp reviews key areas discussed throughout the series to ensure that all areas have been covered. This summary session should keep you thinking, give you more resources to review and use, and point to a few new areas to consider. Building a robust, recoverable, and reliable system takes a myriad of options. Join us to learn what the options are and how you can start making the most of them.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Three Way To List All Databases On Your Server

Sometimes you want to print out a document with all the databases that exists on one server so that you can compare this against another server for example
Listed below are three ways to accomplish this by using a system table, a system view and an undocumented stored procedure

First Way
Use the INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA system view

SELECT CATALOG_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.SCHEMATA
WHERE CATALOG_NAME NOT IN('master','msdb','tempdb','model')
ORDER BY CATALOG_NAME

Second Way
Use the sysdatabases system table in the master database

SELECT name FROM master..sysdatabases
WHERE name NOT IN('master','msdb','tempdb','model')
ORDER BY Name

Third way
Use the undocumented sp_MSForEachDB procedure

CREATE TABLE #AllDB (Name VARCHAR(100))
INSERT INTO #AllDB
EXEC sp_MSForEachDB 'IF ''?'' NOT IN (''master'', ''model'', ''msdb'', ''tempdb'')
SELECT ''?'' '
SELECT * FROM #AllDB

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Convert Float Stored As Varchar To Numeric

An interesting problem came up today in the microsoft SQL Server DTS newsgroup
A person tried to convert a varchar value to numeric and got the following message "Error converting data type varchar to numeric."
The problem is that the value stored as varchar is a float and then SQL Server is not able to convert this to a numeric datatype
So first you have to convert to float and then to numeric

DECLARE @Value VARCHAR(50)
SELECT @Value = '5.9499999999999997E-2'

--Error converting data type varchar to numeric.
SELECT CONVERT(NUMERIC(21,20),@Value)

--This works after converting to float first
SELECT CONVERT(NUMERIC(21,20),CONVERT(FLOAT,@Value))

--No problems here since the value in the varchar field can be converted to numeric
DECLARE @Value2 VARCHAR(50)
SELECT @Value2 = '5.9499999999999997'

SQL Server And Business Intelligence Podcast

Channel 9 on MSDN has added another SQL server podcast yesterday, this one is about SQL Server And Business Intelligence
From their page: "Business Intelligence… some people think that is an oxymoron but my friend it is most certainly better than business ignorance which unfortunately is how many business operate. In the last few years most companies have been amassing data at a phenomenal rate but what does that data tell you? Well listen up because my guest today Andrew Brust is going tell you how you can use the tools in SQL Server 2005 to make sense of this treasure trove of competitive information because business intelligence is always better than business stupidity."

The podcast is 32 minutes and 58 seconds and you can get it here

Enjoy the show

Monday, February 20, 2006

XML In SQL Server 2005 Podcast

XML in SQL Server 2005
Channel9 at MSDN.com has a great SQL Server 2005 and XML podcast
From the page: "How much code have you seen that is devoted to simply shredding XML and storing it in a database? What if you didn't need to do that anymore? What if you could store XML in all of it's unstructured hierarchical goodness and just leave it at that? Well my friend, you are in luck because on this episode Shankar Pal of the SQL Server team is going to tell you all about the details of the great new XML support in SQL Server 2005."

Get the podcast here

Enjoy the show

Friday, February 17, 2006

Sort A SQL Server Table With CASE Or CHARINDEX

Let's say you have a table with states in your database, you only have 3 values NY, ME and SC.
You want to order the result like this: first NY followed by SC and ME last.
You can do that in two different ways
One: use a case statement in your order by
Two: use Charindex in your order by
Let's see how that works

CREATE TABLE #TEST (
STATE CHAR(2))

INSERT INTO #TEST
SELECT 'ME' UNION ALL
SELECT 'ME' UNION ALL
SELECT 'ME' UNION ALL
SELECT 'SC' UNION ALL
SELECT 'NY' UNION ALL
SELECT 'SC' UNION ALL
SELECT 'NY' UNION ALL
SELECT 'SC'

-- order by using CASE

SELECT *
FROM #TEST
ORDER BY CASE STATE
WHEN 'NY' THEN 1
WHEN 'SC' THEN 2
ELSE 3
END

--Order by using CHARINDEX
SELECT *
FROM #TEST
ORDER BY CHARINDEX(STATE,'NY-SC-ME')

--or without NY since CHARINDEX will return 0 for NY and it will be first
SELECT *
FROM #TEST
ORDER BY CHARINDEX(STATE,'SC-ME')

--the problem is of course if you have more values and you only want to have NY and SC showing up first and second
--let's insert 2 more rows
INSERT INTO #TEST
SELECT 'IL'
UNION ALL
SELECT 'CA'

-- Now the CHARINDEX Order doesn't work
-- the trick is to make it Descending and switch the states around
SELECT *
FROM #TEST
ORDER BY CHARINDEX(STATE,'SC-NY') DESC

or this way

--Order by using CHARINDEX DESC
SELECT *
FROM #TEST
ORDER BY CHARINDEX(STATE,'ME-SC-NY') DESC

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

User Definded Functions And GETDATE() (nondeterministic built-in functions )

I have read on Louis Davidson's blog a post about UDF and being able to use GETDATE() in a UDF in SQL server 2005. I wasn't aware of that so I would like to bring it to your attention
In SQL server 2005 you are able to use the following nondeterministic built-in functions in Transact-SQL user-defined functions:
CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
GET_TRANSMISSION_STATUS
GETDATE
GETUTCDATE
@@PACK_SENT
@@PACK_RECEIVED
@@MAX_CONNECTIONS
@@PACKET_ERRORS
@@CONNECTIONS
@@TIMETICKS
@@CPU_BUSY
@@TOTAL_ERRORS
@@DBTS
@@TOTAL_READ
@@IDLE
@@TOTAL_WRITE
@@IO_BUSY

So let's get started and test it out, I will create 2 UDF's one that uses GETDATE() and one that uses DATEADD() and GETDATE()

CREATE FUNCTION fnNonDeterministic ()
RETURNS DATETIME
AS
BEGIN
RETURN GETDATE()
END
GO

CREATE FUNCTION fnNonDeterministicAdd (@Days int)
RETURNS DATETIME
AS
BEGIN
RETURN DATEADD(d,@Days,GETDATE())
END
GO

--Let's see what the ouput is
SELECT dbo.fnNonDeterministic() AS DateReturned,
dbo.fnNonDeterministicAdd(2) AS DateAddReturned

Monday, February 13, 2006

Use CHARINDEX, LEN and SUBSTRING To Find Data Between Characters

Let's say you get data in the following format aaaa/bbbb/cccc/dddd/eeee
What you need from this file is just the data between the first and the last forward slash (in thid case bbbb)
If there is no slash in the file then grab all the data, if there is only 1 slash then grab everything after that slash
This was actually one of the questions that I have answered on tek-tips so yes data like this does exist.
How do you attack such a problem?
First you have to find the first slash, you do that by using CHARINDEX, CHARINDEX will return the position where the first slash is located, then you use CHARINDEX again with SUBSTRING to find the Second slash, finally you use SUBSTRING with the LEFT function and the difference between the 2 CHARINDEX calls as the length
I used a replace function at the beginning to check if there is more than 1 slash or not and then a case statement later on depending on the outcome of that replace function
Let’s see how I did it

--Create some test data
CREATE TABLE #test (ValueField VARCHAR(50))
INSERT INTO #test
SELECT ' /aaaa' UNION ALL
SELECT ' /yyyy/bbbb ' UNION ALL
SELECT 'zzzzz/c/defgh ' UNION ALL
SELECT 'VVVVV'

--This is our delimiter
DECLARE @Delimiter CHAR(1)
SET @Delimiter = '/'

--Show the whole field and the extracted value
SELECT ValueField AS Originalvalue,
CASE WHEN LEN(ValueField) -LEN(REPLACE(ValueField,@Delimiter,'')) > 1
THEN LEFT(SUBSTRING(ValueField,CHARINDEX(@Delimiter,ValueField)+1 ,LEN(ValueField)),CHARINDEX(@Delimiter,SUBSTRING(ValueField,CHARINDEX(@Delimiter,ValueField)+1 ,LEN(ValueField)))-1)
ELSE SUBSTRING(ValueField,CHARINDEX(@Delimiter,ValueField)+1 ,LEN(ValueField))END AS ExtractedValue
FROM #test

Friday, February 10, 2006

How To Check For A Certain Time With SQL

Sometimes you have jobs and you don't know how long they will run
Let's just assume here that the job has 2 steps
You run step 1 and it takes x hours, you only want to run step 2 if it's before 5:45 AM because some other job will start at 6:00 AM and you don't want those 2 jobs hitting the same table at the same time (a real world scenario might be different of course, this is just a simplified version)

I hardcoded 05:45:00.000 here, you can of course store this in a parameter or even in a table so that you only have to change it in one place

--Get today's date
DECLARE @CurrentDateTime DATETIME
SET @CurrentDateTime = GETDATE()

-- create a 2nd parameter and append the time that you need to check for
DECLARE @TimeToChek DATETIME
SELECT @TimeToChek = CONVERT(VARCHAR,@CurrentDateTime,101) + ' 05:45:00.000'

IF (@CurrentDateTime <= @TimeToChek)
-- It is before 5:45 AM
BEGIN
SELECT 'before 5:45am' OutputStatus,
@CurrentDateTime AS CurrentTime,
@TimeToChek AS TimeToCheck
END
ELSE
-- it is before 5:45 AM
BEGIN
SELECT 'Not before 5:45am' OutputStatus,
@CurrentDateTime AS CurrentTime,
@TimeToChek AS TimeToCheck
END

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Beginning SQL Server 2005 For Developers: From Novice To Professional

Apress has published their latest SQl server 2005 book: Beginning SQL Server 2005 For Developers: From Novice To Professional

SQL Server 2005 will increase your programming options, productivity, analysis, and database management. If you have some basic knowledge of relational databases and want to start a career as a developer using SQL Server, then this book is your ideal first step. It explains the core jobs and roles for developing a database in both SQL Server 2000 and 2005.

This book features practical steps to help you overcome issues you’re likely to encounter. You’ll learn to use SQL for querying, inserting, updating, and deleting data. You’ll also learn how to back up and restore databases for basic administration in SQL Server. Further, you’ll cover how to build a complete database, from the fundamentals of relational database design to table and index creation.

Additionally, you’ll start to program in T-SQL, SQL Server’s implementation (and extension) of the SQL programming language, and you’ll come away with effective programming techniques using stored procedures and triggers. The book also includes a CD that contains an evaluation edition of SQL Server 2005 so you can start building database applications right away.

This book is 536 pages and below is the table of contents

CHAPTER 1 SQL Server 2005 Overview and Installation
CHAPTER 2 SQL Server Management Studio
CHAPTER 3 Database Design and Creation
CHAPTER 4 Security
CHAPTER 5 Defining Tables
CHAPTER 6 Creating Indexes and Database Diagramming
CHAPTER 7 Database Backups, Recovery, and Maintenance
CHAPTER 8 Working with the Data
CHAPTER 9 Building a View
CHAPTER 10 Stored Procedures
CHAPTER 11 T-SQL Essentials
CHAPTER 12 Advanced T-SQL
CHAPTER 13 Triggers
CHAPTER 14 SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
APPENDIX Glossary of Terms
INDEX

Download chapter 4 (security) here

If you want to puchase this book the Amazon link is here

Check If Temporary Table Exists

How do you check if a temp table exists?
You can use IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#temp') IS NOT NULL
Let's see how it works

--Create table
USE Norhtwind
GO

CREATE TABLE #temp(id INT)

--Check if it exists
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#temp') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp exists!'
END
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp does not exist!'
END

--Another way to check with an undocumented optional second parameter
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#temp','u') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp exists!'
END
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp does not exist!'
END

--Don't do this because this checks the local DB and will return does not exist
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#temp','local') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp exists!'
END
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp does not exist!'
END

--unless you do something like this
USE tempdb
GO

--Now it exists again
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#temp','local') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp exists!'
END
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp does not exist!'
END

--let's go back to Norhtwind again
USE Norhtwind
GO

--Check if it exists
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#temp') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp exists!'
END
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp does not exist!'
END

now open a new window from Query Analyzer (CTRL + N) and run this code again
--Check if it exists
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..#temp') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp exists!'
END
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT '#temp does not exist!'
END

It doesn't exist and that is correct since it's a local temp table not a global temp table

Well let's test that statement
--create a global temp table
CREATE TABLE ##temp(id INT) --Notice the 2 pound signs, that's how you create a global variable

--Check if it exists
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..##temp') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
PRINT '##temp exists!'
END
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT '##temp does not exist!'
END

It exists, right?
Now run the same code in a new Query Analyzer window (CTRL + N)

--Check if it exists
IF OBJECT_ID('tempdb..##temp') IS NOT NULL
BEGIN
PRINT '##temp exists!'
END
ELSE
BEGIN
PRINT '##temp does not exist!'
END

And yes this time it does exist since it's a global table