A regular expression is a rule which defines how characters can appear in an expression. It’s a sequence of character or text which determines the search pattern. In SQL databases, selecting values based on regular expressions defined in the WHERE condition can be very useful. Following are a few use cases of how you can use regular expressions. Read More
Tag: sql
Calculate the median by using Transact SQL
The statistical median is the value which separates a dataset into halves – one comprises greater values, and the other comprises lesser ones. For a specified dataset, it can be considered as the “middle” value. For example, in the dataset {1, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9}, the median is 5, which is fourth largest, and fourth smallest number in the dataset.
To calculate the median of any dataset, we first need to arrange all values from the dataset in a specific order. After arranging the data, we must determine the middle value of the specified dataset. If the dataset contains an odd number of values, than the middle value of the entire dataset will be considered as a median. Read More
Parameter Sniffing Primer
Introduction
Developers are often told to use stored procedures in order to avoid the so-called ad hoc queries which can result in unnecessary bloating of the plan cache. You see, when recurrent SQL code is written inconsistently or when there’s code that generates dynamic SQL on the fly, SQL Server has a tendency to create an execution plan for each individual execution. This may decrease overall performance by:
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Demanding a compilation phase for every code execution.
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Bloating the Plan Cache with too many plan handles that may not be reused.
Auto Create Statistics and Auto Update Statistics
Statistics comprises lightweight objects that are used by SQL Server Query optimizer to determine the optimal way to retrieve data from the table. SQL Server optimizer uses the histogram of column statistics to choose the optimal query execution plan. If a query uses a predicate which already has statistics, the query optimizer can get all the required information from the statistics to determine the optimal way to execute the query. SQL Server creates statistics in two ways:
- When a new index is created on a column.
- If the AUTO_CREATE_STATISTICS option is enabled.
In this article, Auto Create Statistics and Auto Update Statistics options are analyzed. They are database specific and can be configured using SQL Server management studio and T-SQL Query. Read More
Learn Basic Data Analysis with SQL Window Functions
This article is about T-SQL (Transact-SQL) Window functions and their basic use in day-to-day data analysis tasks.
There are many alternatives to T-SQL when it comes to data analysis. However, when improvements over time and introduction of Window functions are considered, T-SQL is capable of performing data analysis on a basic level and, in some cases, even beyond that. Read More
T-SQL SET Operators Part 2: INTERSECT and EXCEPT
In my previous article, I explained the basics of set operators, their types, and prerequisites for their use. I also talked about UNION and UNION ALL operators, their usage and differences.
In this article, we’re going to learn the following:
- EXCEPT and INTERSECT operators.
- Difference between INTERSECT and INNER JOIN.
- The detailed explanation of INTERSECT and EXCEPT with an example.
EXCEPT and INTERSECT operators were introduced in SQL Server 2005. Both are set operators used to combine the result sets generated by two queries and retrieve the desired output. Read More
How to Properly Use the T-SQL IsNumeric Function
This article is focused on the T-SQL (Transact-SQL) IsNumeric function and its proper use in day-to-day SQL scripting tasks.
We will also see why it is important to understand how and why IsNumeric can be used – both incorrectly and correctly.
There may be some better alternatives to IsNumeric depending on the context. However, in the cases we’re going to cover in this article, I see this function as the best possible choice. Read More
T-SQL Datetime Data Type
Introduction
Data types are attributes that specify the kind of data that objects such as columns, local variables, expressions, and parameters can hold. Across the RDBMS world, data types are typically grouped into string, numeric, and date data types.
T-SQL supports 6 date and time data types namely:
- Datetime
- Smalldatetime
- Date
- Time
- Datetime2
- Datetimeoffset
The first two data types are considered as legacy versions of the newer ones. In this article, we focus on the date data types and, specifically, on the datetime and datetime2 data types available in SQL Server. Table 1 gives details of the various date and time data types available in SQL Server. Read More
Advanced SQL: Variations and Different Use cases of T-SQL Insert Statement
In my previous article, I demonstrated:
- Insert the output of the table-valued function in the SQL table.
- Insert the output of the table-valued function that is created on the remote database server.
In this article, I am going to demonstrate:
- Copy data between two tables, created in a different schema.
- Copy data between two tables, created in different databases on the same server.
- Copy data between two tables created, in different databases resides the different server (Cross server query)
Tutorial on SQL (DDL, DML) on the example of MS SQL Server dialect
Introduction
This tutorial includes information about SQL (DDL, DML) that I have gathered during my professional life. This is the minimum you need to know while working with databases. If there is a need to use complex SQL constructions, then usually I surf the MSDN library, which can be easily found on the internet. To my mind, it is very difficult to keep everything in your head and, by the way, there is no need for this. I recommend that you should know all the main constructions used in most relational databases such as Oracle, MySQL, and Firebird. Still, they may differ in data types. For example, to create objects (tables, constraints, indexes, etc.), you may simply use integrated development environment (IDE) to work with databases and there is no need in studying visual tools for a particular database type (MS SQL, Oracle, MySQL, Firebird, etc.). This is convenient because you can see the whole text, and you do not need to look through numerous tabs to create, for example, an index or a constraint. If you are constantly working with databases, creating, modifying, and especially rebuilding an object using scripts is much faster than in a visual mode. Besides, in my opinion, in the script mode (with due precision), it is easier to specify and control rules for naming objects. In addition, it is convenient to use scripts when you need to transfer database changes from a test database to a production database. Read More