The Designers of CSS never envisaged the demands that we make of styles. However, preprocessors such as SASS can provide the obvious missing features such as constants, selector inheritence and nesting. Compass can in turn use SASS to provide a simple browser-independent way of expressing complex layout.… Read more
The PATINDEX function of SQL Server packs powerful magic, but it is easy to get it wrong. Phil Factor returns to the Workbench format to give a tutorial of examples, samples and cookbook ideas to demonstrate the ways that this underrated function can be of practical use. It is intended to be pasted into SSMS and used as a basis for experiment… Read more
XML Data Modification Language (XML DML) allows you to modify and update XML data. When working with SQL Server Databases, this is the most efficient way to modify elements in an XML column, yet the techniques of using XML-DML have not been well, and simply, described - up until now. Robert Sheldon presents a practical workbench to show the various modify methods … Read more
SQL Server database engine doesn't have a MEDIAN() aggregate function. This is probably because there are several types of median, such as statistical, financial or vector medians. Calculating Medians are essentially a row-positioning task, since medians are the middle value of an ordered result. Easy to do in SQL? Nope. Joe Celko explains why… Read more
Robert Sheldon continues his guide to Full-Text Indexing, by putting down his pen and reaching for SSMS for a practical workbench on Full-Text indexing. There is nothing like trying things out to make ideas click.… Read more
In this workbench, Robyn Page and Phil Factor decide to tackle the subject of Matrix handling and Matrix Mathematics in SQL. They maintain that 'One just needs a clear head and think in terms of set-based operations'… Read more
Robyn Page and Phil Factor explore the innocent subject of Keys for their latest workbench. Everybody knows about keys. Oh yeah? Phil Factor ends up muting the immutable out of sheer devilry, and we learn how silly the British Secret Service were to tag James Bond with the code '007'… Read more
In which Robyn and Phil continue with their popular series on TSQL String User-functions. In this final episode, they pull together the themes from their TSQL String Array Workbench and String User Function workbench, to provide a simple TSQL string-handling package.… Read more
Robyn and Phil go back to basics and hammer out some basic String-handling User Functions in TSQL, based on Python examples. Plenty of sample code, and TSQL programming tricks.… Read more
Robyn and Phil start their investigation into XHTML by showing how to use TSQL to parse it to extract data, and demonstrate how to turn an XHTML table into a SQL Server Table!… Read more
Robyn and Phil show how to use XML-based arrays to make string handling easier in SQL Server 2005/2008, and illustrate the techniques with some useful functions, one of which copies the PHP str_Replace function.… Read more
Robyn and Phil start by writing a gentle introduction to using Regular expressions for validation, data cleaning and data import in TSQL, and finally end up with a routine for doing google-style searches that show the context of hits. It's all done in the spirit of 'try it and see...'… Read more
Robyn and Phil return with some fresh ideas about how to import text files into SQL Server, without resorting to DTS or SSIS scripting. They go on to show how much can be done in TSQL … Read more
SQL Service Broker, an asynchronous queuing and messaging system for SQL Server 2005, is set to change the way we design and run distributed applications. Adam Machanic once more makes it all seem so easy in Part 2 of his epic series... … Read more
SQL Service Broker, an asynchronous queuing and messaging system for SQL Server 2005, is set to change the way we design and run distributed applications. Adam Machanic makes it all seem so easy...… Read more
Robyn and Phil turn their attention to the bedrock of management reporting, the Pivot Table. Under Phil's 'wild man' influence, they end up with some rather radical ideas.… Read more
Cursors and iterations are both renowned for slowing down Transact SQL code, but sometimes seem unavoidable. In this workbench, Robyn Page and Phil Factor demonstrate some set-based techniques for string manipulation and time interval-based reporting, which use helper tables rather than the dreaded cursor.… Read more
