Finding Database Info

If you are a production Database Administrator (DBA), you might be lucky and have all your servers on the same revision of SQL Server. This is a very uncommon situation since many third party vendors do not keep up with Microsoft releases or your company might not find the return on investment (ROI) for having the lastest software. My company falls into the later category. We have some business applications that are bound to SQL Server 2000. Since it is not broken, the company is not willing to fix it.…

Multiline Table Value Functions

Today, I continuing my talk about database objects that are associated with stored (compiled) code. A user-defined function is any Transactional SQL (TSQL) or Common Language Runtime (CLR) routine that accepts parameters, performs an action, and returns the result of that action as a value. The return value can either be a scalar (single) value datatype or a composite (multiple) values table. These Table Valued Functions (TVF) functions come in two flavors: inline and multiline. I am going to concentrate on the later. Like most Data Definition Language (DDL) constructs,…

Inline Table Value Functions

Today, I continuing my talk about database objects that are associated with stored (compiled) code. A user-defined function is any Transactional SQL (TSQL) or Common Language Runtime (CLR) routine that accepts parameters, performs an action, and returns the result of that action as a value. The return value can either be a scalar (single) value datatype or a composite (multiple) values table. These Table Valued Functions (TVF) functions come in two flavors: inline and multiline. I am going to concentrate on the former. Like most Data Definition Language (DDL) constructs,…

Scalar Valued Functions

Today, I want to start talking about database objects that are associated with stored (compiled) code. A user-defined function is any Transactional SQL (TSQL) or Common Language Runtime (CLR) routine that accepts parameters, performs an action, and returns the result of that action as a value. The return value can either be a scalar (single) value datatype or a composite (multiple) values table. I am going to concentrate on Scalar Value Functions today. Like most Data Definition Language (DDL) constructs, a user define function has three operations associated with it:…

Database Files & Objects – Part 1

I am currently reading Kalen Delany and others book on SQL Server 2008 System internals. If you have not read this book from cover to cover, you should. It has a wealth of knowledge about database engine details. To demonstrate key ideas from the book, I am going to expand on the [MATH] database that contains PRIME numbers. The trial division algorithm inside this database uses a brute force method for calculating prime numbers. This article will focus on files and objects that can be viewed through the system views,…