SQL Server Diaries

I was recently asked why, when an application was saving datetime values sometimes the actual value stored is different than the one sent to the database.  After investigating the issue I discovered that the programmers were relying on the local/client machine’s Regional Settings to display dates to the end user... [Read More]

I sometimes use the MSSQL Blocks application to monitor and especially collect information related to database locks.  I know that I could use an SQL Profiler trace or a Server-level trace however I found that this application is offers a “start and forget” approach. [Read More]

When accessing database objects, such as stored procedures, over a Linked Server the stored procedure output will be returned to the calling application.  There are occasions where we have to insert the results of the stored procedure into a temporary table to be used further on in our stored procedure.... [Read More]

This week’s article involves about another command line utility however before mentioning the utility I will skim a few particles off the surface of SQL Server storage. [Read More]

I was recently involved in a database migration project where the requirement was that the data in an SQL Server 2000 database is exported to separate files for archiving or uploading into another (unknown) database/DBMS. No problem there. Using the BCP command-line utility the data was exported easily. One of... [Read More]