Category Archives: Databases

In the first part of this article titled XML Data Processing in MS SQL Server we saw how we can represent relation data in SQL Server in XML format by using FOR XML clause in one of the following four ways: AUTO RAW EXPLICIT PATH In this article, we will continue with Parsing XML Data in MS SQL Sever. […]

XML is a special data type introduced in SQL Server 2005. Its purpose is to store data in a specific format so that the data can be queried / analyzed easily whenever required. Optional Info: XML has now become a standard way of data sharing & data transport across various heterogeneous platforms. XML data processing in […]

In our last post titled – SQL Server Data Migration Example for Non-SQL Data Sources we have seen data migration from non-SQL sources using: Bulk Insert BCP command-line utility In this article we will see how to migrate data to a SQL Sever database using Import Data Wizard. P.S. The steps covered in this article should work […]

Overview of SQL Server Data Migration Migrating data from non-SQL data sources into SQL Server is a commonplace scenario encountered where we need to extract data from a source which is not a relational database (e.g. a flat-file or a spreadsheet). It can even be the output from a biometric system coming in the form […]

In my previous article, An Introduction to Database Engine Tuning Advisor (DETA) in SQL Server 2012, I’ve shared a detailed description of DETA. Here we’ll see DETA in action with an example. P.S. This article will be applicable to SQL Server 2014 as well. DETA is not available in any of the Express editions of SQL Server. Before we […]

Introduction Database Engine Tuning Advisor (DETA or DTA) is a performance analysis tool that helps in the following scenario: Tuning of a query or a group of queries that are executing slower than expected; Identify the changes that can be made in the database so that the query performance is enhanced for a specific batch; It […]

As a part of my work, I frequently get opportunity to review database models. As I am a little more specific about the usage of data types I feel a bit restless when I see a developer using the data type bigint or varchar(max) when a tinyint or varchar(50) would have sufficed. DB developers who argue […]

There are certain practical scenarios when you are required to fetch tens of thousands of rows of records from a database. Most of the ASP.Net applications are connected to a SQL Server database and unlike MySQL and Oracle databases, SQL Server had no easy Paging feature till SQL Server 2012 release! There were convoluted solutions to a […]

What is SQL Code Snippet? MS Visual Studio is one of the richest editors that has an advanced intellisense support. Many of the full stack MS developers always complaint about the lack of rich intellisense support in the MS SQL Server editor  (i.e. SQL Server Management Studio, Query window). SQL code snippet is a feature that helps you […]

Sequences were introduced in SQL Server 2012. To locate the Sequences in database, log in to SQL Server Management Studio [2012 edition] (SSMS) and navigate to Programmability node under any database. See the below screenshot to locate the Sequence and to get started with SQL Server Sequence: Before we create our first sequence let us […]