Recent Blogs and Articles

Welcome to SQL Matters

SQL Matters is a resource for SQL Server Developers, Architects, DBAs and others interested in SQL Server and related technologies . Our site contains a wide range of articles, tips, blogs, quiz questions and other information about the SQL Server range of products. This includes Integration Services (SSIS), Reporting Services (SSRS), Analysis Services (SSAS) and some other products that we feel might be of interest to the SQL Server community such as PowerPivot and Report Builder.

Here are some examples of technical information that you might be interested in :

Featured Tip

Formatting a number with thousand separators

Sometimes it can be useful to add thousand separators (commas) to large numbers to make them easier to view. There is no simple way to do this in SQL for an int and bigint, but it can be achieved by converting to a money type first. This article explains how.

Featured Script

Clearing entries for failed jobs in the SQL agent history

SQL Server agent keeps a log of events in a table, this is used for the ‘View History’ which displays events for a job in the Log File Viewer. This script will delete selected rows from the history table, such as failed job runs.

Quick Quiz : DATALENGTH results

What is the result of the following SQL query ?
DECLARE @MyStr NVARCHAR (100)
SET @MyStr = 'ABC'
SELECT DATALENGTH(@MyStr)
Choose one : a) 3    b) 6    c) 50    d) 100