Redgate Blog

Posts by
Phil Factor

Phil Factor (real name withheld to protect the guilty), aka Database Mole, has 30 years of experience with database-intensive applications. Despite having once been shouted at by a furious Bill Gates at an exhibition in the early 1980s, he has remained resolutely anonymous throughout his career. He is a regular contributor to <strong><a href="http://www.simple-talk.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Simple Talk</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://www.sqlservercentral.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SQLServerCentral</a></strong>.

25 February 2021

25 February 2021

Building reusable table build scripts using SQL Prompt

You need a fast, general-purpose way to save the results of a query or batch or procedure into any sort of worktable, such as a temporary table or a table variable or table valued parameter. A simple SELECT…INTO isn't versatile enough for these requirements, and the alternative ways to handcraft… Read more

SQL Prompt snippets

25 February 2021

25 February 2021

Checking for Missing Module References in a SQL Server Database Using Flyway

There are certain checks that need to be done after a database migration is complete. One good example of this is the check that a migration script, such as one that merges changes from a branch into main, doesn't cause 'invalid objects' (a.k.a. 'missing references') in your databases. I'll… Read more

24 February 2021

24 February 2021

SQL Templates and Code Snippets in SSMS and SQL Prompt

Phil Factor explains the uses and limitations of native SSMS templates and snippets, and then demonstrates the extra versatility that SQL Prompt snippets provide. Read more

23 February 2021

23 February 2021

Flyway Baselines and Consolidations

Phil Factor demonstrates why we occasionally need to 'baseline' a database, when automating database deployments with Flyway, and a simple way of reducing the number of migration files that are required for a build. Read more

15 February 2021

15 February 2021

Getting Data In and Out of SQL Server Flyway Builds

This article provides SQL "bulk copy" routines to extract data from and load it into a SQL Server database, rapidly, and demonstrates a way to automatically bulk insert the test data in a Flyway build, using a SQL callback. Read more

9 February 2021

9 February 2021

Customizing Database Deployments using Flyway Callbacks and Placeholders

How to customize a database deployment process using Flyway, demonstrating how to incorporate tasks such stamping a version number into the latest database build, or writing to the SQL Server log. Read more

27 January 2021

27 January 2021

Getting Started with Flyway and SQL Server

Phil Factor explains how to get started with Flyway, as simply as possible, using PowerShell. This article provides a practice set of database automation scripts that will build a SQL Server database, and then update it, running a series of migrations scripts that make some schema alterations, and load the… Read more

22 January 2021

22 January 2021

Managing database changes using Flyway: an Overview

This article describes the principles of using Flyway migrations to build a database from scripts, to a specified version, and to track, manage and apply all database changes. Read more

18 January 2021

18 January 2021

Is Tempdb Causing a Bottleneck?

One of your SQL Server instance shows a major dip in performance or throughput, affecting all the user databases. You notice that the slow interludes coincide, as if orchestrated. On investigation, it appears that several transactions running over that period were using a lot of space in tempdb. However, which… Read more

8 January 2021

8 January 2021

Automating SQL Compare Snapshots using SQL Snapper

If you have SQL Compare, then the SQL Snapper utility is very valuable 'extra' for certain team activities, because it can be freely distributed. It means that any developer can create a SQL Compare snapshot from databases that are on their local workstation and store them on the network. Read more