The Bit Bucket

I regularly hear the terms AI and Machine Learning used almost interchangeably, along with a variety of other related terms. I thought it would be useful to add a post that defines some of the common terms and how they differ:

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a fairly generic term. It relates to all intelligent agents that are able to be aware of their environments (in some way), and to take actions where the aim is to achieve a specified goal. Sometimes these goals are terminal ie: they reach a final desired state. Other times, these goals are continuous ie: keep speed at a desired value. It is considered “artificial” intelligence as to an observer, it mimics cognitive functions that humans would imagine other humans performing.

2018-10-19

This is probably one of the simplest tips that I’ve published, yet I’m endlessly surprised how many people do not realize that it’s available.

When you have a script loaded in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), and you execute the script, you might run into an error like this:

To find where the error is, just double-click the error down in the Messages tab. I double-clicked it, and it took me directly to the error and highlighted it:

2018-10-18

In SQL Server Management Studio, there’s no great way to list all the foreign keys that are defined in a database.

In our free SDU Tools for developers and DBAs,  we added a function ListForeignKeys to do just that, and to provide their details in a form that’s easy to consume programmatically if you need that.

You can see how to execute it in the main image above. The procedure takes these parameters:

2018-10-17

I don’t normally do blog posts to just promote products from companies, but two weeks ago I was asked about tools that I use on a daily basis and that I really wouldn’t want to do without. Normally with a question like that, I have to think for a while. But this one’s easy: It’s SnagIt from TechSmith.

It’s the one tool that I use in nearly every part of my work. I use it all day long. If I didn’t have it, it would harm my productivity in a significant way.

2018-10-16

SDU Tools is a toolkit that’s simple to use, has many useful functions, procedures, and views, and is updated regularly. Even if you aren’t using the tools as a set, they provide wonderful examples of how to do things in T-SQL. We have released version 12.0 of these popular tools.

The tools are free tools for DBAS and Developers. Tools for comparing databases, tables, finding unused indexes, manipulating strings, performance tuning converting data, and so much more.

2018-10-15

I’ve flown a lot over the years. What continues to strike me though, is how poorly airlines use machine learning and AI, even when they are in strong competitive environments. A key indicator is detecting and avoiding customer churn. Let me give you an example:

We flew with QANTAS and with their partners in One World for many years. We were both platinum and I’d been platinum for many years. At a recent peak a few years ago, we were flying once or twice a week. That’s not a crazy amount, but it’s enough. And it’s certainly enough to be able to see a purchasing pattern.

2018-10-12

When you right-click a table in SQL Server Management Studio, you get options for selecting or editing but the number of rows is limited:

Those values can be changed. By default, these numbers are both 200, but I’ve decided to change the default number of rows selected to 1000.

In Tools, Options, SQL Server Object Explorer, then Commands, you can set the values to whatever suits you:

I don’t tend to ever use the Edit option but I’d suggest not making it too large.

2018-10-11

XACT_ABORT is one of the least well understood options that you can configure in a SQL Server session. Yet it’s very important. XACT_ABORT makes statement-terminating errors become batch-terminating errors. Without it, even within a transaction, many errors only terminate the statement that they occur in, and control passes to the next statement within the transaction, not out of the transaction.

In nearly every stored procedure that I write, the template includes the following lines:

2018-10-10

Do you need to understand SQL Server indexing in detail? Do you know someone else who needs to? Either way, our new SQL Server Indexing for Developers course could be just what you’re looking for.

It’s detailed. It has a full set of practical exercises (hands-on labs) with downloadable test data and scripts.

The best part is it’s on sale until October 31st for $195 USD as an introductory special.

2018-10-08

While continuing on the path of listening to many older but classic books, I had to include The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R Covey.

I remember first reading this book shortly after it was released. I note that the version I listened to in Audible recently was the 25th anniversary edition. I’d say it’s stood the test of time pretty well. An enormous number of copies (over 25 million) have apparently been sold over those years.

2018-10-05