This site is intended for those who are beginning to use SQL Server as part of their day-to-day activities.  You will find in this site a collection of useful functions, triggers, stored procedures and tips and tricks related to SQL Server.

Should you have any comments or questions regarding this site or if you want to ask SQL Server-related questions, e-mail us here.

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What's New in SQL Server 2012

• What's New in SQL Server 2012
• SQL Server 2012 Editions and Licensing - Frequently Asked Questions
• SQL Server 2012 Programmability Datasheet
• SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services Datasheet
• SQL Server 2012 Master Data Services Datasheet
• SQL Server 2012 Data Mining Datasheet
• SQL Server 2012 High Availability Datasheet
• SQL Server 2012 Maximum Capacity Specifications
• SQL Server 2012 Server Configuration Options

SQL Server 2012 Articles

• SQL Server 2012 New Date Functions
• SQL Server 2012 New String Functions
• SQL Server 2012 New Logical Functions (CHOOSE and IIF)
• SQL Server 2012 FORMAT String Function Culture
• SQL Server 2012 Date Formats Using the FORMAT Function and CONVERT Function

What's New in SQL Server 2008

A collection of articles related to what's new with SQL Server 2008:

• Compound Operators
• Multiple Value Inserts Within a Single INSERT Statement
• Row Constructor (or Table-Valued Constructor) as Derived Table
• MERGE Statement
• Table-Valued Parameters

SQL Server 2008 Articles

A collection of articles related to SQL Server 2008:

• Error in Importing/Exporting Geography/Geometry Columns in SQL Server 2008 Management Studio
• SQL Server 2008 to Windows Server 2008 Connection Error 1326
• Store Locator Using Geography Data Type
• Convert Latitude/Longitude (Lat/Long) to Geography Point
• MERGE Statement With Table-Valued Parameters
• SqlConnection Connection String
• SQL Server 2008 Date Formats

Date Functions

A collection of useful user-defined functions that deal with dates.

• Determine the age of a person as of today given the birthdate.
• Determine if it is a leap year.
• Get the first day of the week, first day of the month or first day of the quarter
• Get the last day of the month.
• Get the number of days in a month or the number of days in a year.

String Functions

A collection of useful user-defined functions that deal with strings (varchar/char/nvarchar/nchar).

• Count the number of times a given character occur in a given string.
• Count the number of times a given search string exists in a given input string.
• Count the number of words in a given input string.
• Emulate the behavior of Oracle's InitCap string function, which changes the first letter of each word in uppercase and all others in lowercase.
• Encrypt an input string using a simple encryption algorithm.
• Trim the leading zeros from a given alphanumeric value.

Tree Functions

A collection of useful user-defined functions that deal with tree or hierarchical design structures.

• Get the path of a particular node from the parent within a hierarchy/tree-type table structure.
• Determine the level of a particular node within the hierarchy/tree-type table structure.

Table-Valued Functions

A collection of useful table-valued user-defined functions that can be used to join with other tables.

• Generate a table of integer values from 1 to the maximum input value.
• Generate a table containing the individual values in a comma-delimited/comma-separated value.

SQL Server Built-in Functions

A reference to all built-in functions available within SQL Server grouped into categories.

• SQL Server Aggregate Functions
• SQL Server Configuration Functions
• SQL Server Date and Time Functions
• SQL Server Mathematical Functions
• SQL Server String Functions

A collection of useful SQL Server-related tips and tricks:

• Returning a comma-delimited output without the use of cursors.
• Easily identify missing identity values.
• Generate random numbers without using the RAND function.
• Generate random records from any table.
• Sort IP addresses that are stored as VARCHAR by their numeric values.
• Different ways of splitting a full name to get the first name and last name.
• Query/read and import an Excel file without using DTS and without importing the data to a SQL table.
• Execute a batch of .sql scripts located in a specific directory without manually opening and executing them through Query Analyzer.
• Convert datetime values into different date formats.
• Compare the SET command against the SELECT statement when assigning values to local variables.

SQL Server Error Messages

A list of SQL Server error messages and for certain error messages, discusses ways on how to solve the error or work around them:

SQL Server Error Message 1 to 500    Spanish French SQL Server Error Message 501 to 1000 SQL Server Error Message 1001 to 1500 SQL Server Error Message 1501 to 2000 SQL Server Error Message 2001 to 3000 SQL Server Error Message 3001 to 4000 SQL Server Error Message 4001 to 5000 SQL Server Error Message 5001 to 6000 SQL Server Error Message 6001 to 7000 SQL Server Error Message 7001 to 7500 SQL Server Error Message 7501 to 8000

SQL Server Error Message 8001 to 8500 SQL Server Error Message 8501 to 9000 SQL Server Error Message 9001 to 9500 SQL Server Error Message 9501 to 10000 SQL Server Error Message 10001 to 10500 SQL Server Error Message 10501 to 11000 SQL Server Error Message 11001 to 11500 SQL Server Error Message 11501 to 12000 SQL Server Error Message 12001 to 13000 SQL Server Error Message 13001 to 13500 SQL Server Error Message 14001 to 14500

SQL Server

A collection of frequently asked questions about SQL Server grouped by categories:

• Frequently Asked Questions - SQL Server Tables
• Frequently Asked Questions - SQL Server Data Types
• Frequently Asked Questions - SQL Server Dates (DateTime / SmallDateTime)
• Frequently Asked Questions - SQL Server Views
• Frequently Asked Questions - SELECT Statement
• Frequently Asked Questions - INSERT Statement
• Frequently Asked Questions - SQL Server Error Messages
• Frequently Asked Questions - SQL Server Equivalent of Oracle Functions

SQL Server 2005

A collection of frequently asked questions about SQL Server 2005 grouped by categories:

• Frequently Asked Questions - SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
• Frequently Asked Questions - VARCHAR(MAX), NVARCHAR(MAX), VARBINARY(MAX)