The Bit Bucket

In another post, I mentioned how useful templates can be. I said that I’d discuss how to create them later. Well, that’s today.

I thought I’d take dropping a database as an example. The supplied template doesn’t work for me, so let’s create a new one.

Note: SQL Server 2016 SP1 introduced DROP DATABASE IF EXISTS but I find that option quite useless. It fails if anyone is connected to the database. And to disconnect people beforehand, you need to first check if it exists, so the statement is pointless.

2025-07-22

I posted a while back about moving to using Hugo-based Azure Static Websites for my blog and other simple sites. One thing that I wanted to achieve is to have random advertisements for our training courses in the sidebar for the blog. You’ll see one to the right of this post.

Clearly a challenge with a static website, is how you can have random content shown. Let me tell you what I’ve done.

2025-07-21

Sometimes you might need help to remember the T-SQL syntax required to create different types of objects. Templates can do this. Because they don’t appear on the screen by default, many people don’t even realize they are there.

From the View menu, you can choose to view Template Explorer:

When Template Explorer opens, you see a list of predefined templates, plus any that you have created yourself. (One advantage of templates is that they are quite easy to create). In this case I’ve expanded the Credential folder, right-clicked the Create Credential template, then clicked Open.

2025-07-20

This is a post in the SQL Interview series. These aren’t trick or gotcha questions, they’re just questions designed to scope out a candidate’s knowledge around SQL Server and Azure SQL Database.

Section: Administration Level: Medium

Question:

You have a table called Sales.Transactions that has an associated foreign key constraint. The constraint checks that CustomerID values correctly reference the CustomerID primary key of the Sales.Customers table.

You need to bulk load some transaction data and decide to disable the constraint during the load, hoping it will increase performance of the load.

2025-07-19

In a previous post, I was discussing how outlining can be helpful with navigating around within a large T-SQL script file.

If you were trying to do that within a Microsoft Word document, the most common thing to use is bookmarks, and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) has them as well.

Bookmarks are simply placeholders within a script. (They can also apply to other types of document within SSMS). Where I find them very useful is when I’m working in two or three places within a long script at the same time. Perhaps I’m working on a function, and also on the code that calls the function. By using bookmarks, I’m not flipping endlessly around the script file, and can jump directly from placeholder to placeholder.

2025-07-18

I posted a while back about moving to using Hugo-based Azure Static Websites for my blog and other simple sites. I love having source code based websites.

However, one thing I wasn’t expecting was about how future blog posts would be handled. I tend to generate posts well in advance, and I wanted them to appear all by themselves when the appropriate date came.

I thought that even a static website would just show you things within the date range. But that’s not how it works. When you build a Hugo based site, it generates a site that includes all the posts that should be shown up to the time you build it.

2025-07-17

For some years now, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) has had the ability to use code outlining, the same way that other Visual Studio languages can.

This can be very useful when you are trying to navigate around a large script file.

The simplest usage is to collapse or expand a region of code. Note that in the following script, code regions have been automatically added by SSMS:

This allows us to click on the outline handles, and collapse the code:

2025-07-16

This is a post in the SQL Interview series. These aren’t trick or gotcha questions, they’re just questions designed to scope out a candidate’s knowledge around SQL Server and Azure SQL Database.

Section: Security Level: Medium

Question:

Public key encryption is based on combinations of private keys and public keys.

When you install a certificate on a SQL Server, to be used for client connection encryption, which key or keys are contained in the certificate?

2025-07-15

Two key combinations used by SQL Server T-SQL developers every day are Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V for copy and paste.

But many users of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) don’t realize that it has a clipboard ring and can deal with several objects in the clipboard at the same time.

Let’s see an example.

In this screen shot, I’ve opened a query window with the source code of the AnalyzeTableColumns procedure from SDU Tools.

2025-07-14

Sometimes I’m sent books to review and I just don’t get around to it fast enough. This book was one of those. Why we argue and how to stop: A Therapist’s Guide to Navigating Disagreements, Managing Emotions, and Creating Healthier Relationships by Jerry Manney .

I found this book quite interesting.

Early on, Jerry notes that journaling is important because memory is unreliable. Jerry said I learned a long time ago that one of the key characteristics of a knowledgeable and successful person is not how much they can remember, but whether they have a method or system for accessing important and relevant information when they need it. I’m certainly learning that more as I get older.

2025-07-13