Ward Pond's SQL Server blog
Ruminating on issues pertinent to the design and development of sound databases and processes under Microsoft SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2000 (while reserving the right to vent about anything else that's on my mind)
I Haven't Forgotten About You..
.. it's just that I've just been very, very busy. And it's not going to get better anytime soon....
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/28/2006
Technical News: One More SQL Server 2005 SP1 Post - Download Link For Books OnLine
One last SQL Server 2005 SP1 link (also added to my original message): the updated version of Books...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/21/2006
Technical News: "Express" Program Extended Indefinitely
Do I work for a great company, or what? When I blogged about the launch of SQL Server 2005 and...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/19/2006
Technical News: SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 Now Available For Download
The release version of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 is now available for download here. Books...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/19/2006
Database Programming: Yet More On Optional Parameters
Ever since I mentioned that Calvin Hsia clued me in to the size of this blog's audience, the comment...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/18/2006
Database Programming: Just What Were Those Performance Implications, Anyway?
Last Thursday, when I offered a solution for implementing optional parameters to a stored procedure,...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/17/2006
Database Programming: User-Defined Functions And Linked Server Connections
This post addresses an edge-case programming issue, but if you've ever run into into it, this may be...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/16/2006
Pond's Laws of System Design (or, How To Be A Competent Professional In An Irrational World)
I first promised this list in December, and at long last here is its current state. Hopefully you...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/14/2006
Thank You For Enabling Me To Be Blatantly Self-Congratulatory
After months of hesitation, I recently got a look at an internal resource offered by fellow...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/14/2006
Database Programming: Implementing Optional Parameters To A Stored Procedure
A colleague asked the following question recently: I have a stored procedure that takes four...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 04/14/2006
Technical News: SQL Server 2005 SP1 March 2006 CTP Now Available
There have been entire months I didn't blog as much as I've blogged today, but there's one more...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 03/19/2006
Database Programming: Feedback Requested -- Which Syntax Is More Maintainable?
This might be something of an atypical post for this blog in that it's a solicitation of feedback...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 03/19/2006
Microsoft Announces Development Contest
This is a pretty cool idea.. Microsoft has recently announced an opportunity for you to get a...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 03/19/2006
Database Programming: The Oldest Performance Trick In The Book
Another conversation among colleagues leads to another blog post. May the circle remain unbroken,...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 03/19/2006
Database Programming: A Word About XQuery Performance Tuning In SQL Server 2005
In an earlier post, I offered a performance analysis of two equivalent XPath queries. While the...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 03/10/2006
Loading An XML Document Into SQL Server: Another OPENROWSET Trick
Have you ever had an XML document in a file that you needed to get into a database column...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 03/07/2006
Database Programming: IDENT_CURRENT() Behavior Change In SQL Server 2005
An email recently crossed my inbox (if electrons are capable of crossing a virtual construct like an...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 03/02/2006
T-SQL Update Operations: An Answer For Jared
Jared Rypka-Hauer poses a question here: As it appears (mostly from looking at how triggers work), a...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 02/21/2006
Non-Technical News: New Site With Metric Tons Of Great Music
So.. after music promoter Bill Graham passed away, a web entrepreneur bought his entire archive of...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 02/20/2006
Database Programming: Applying APPLY -- Solving Parent Axis Access Performance Issues In XML Access In SQL Server 2005
This little nugget will save you an incredible amount of time if you face the need to retrieve data...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 02/19/2006
Database Programming: A More Performant Alternative To COLUMNS_UPDATED()
(updated 18 February 2006 to clarify version information) A recent discussion with several...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 02/16/2006
CASE To The Rescue Again: Order Of Operations In SQL Server
You might remember way back when, when we discussed the fact that sometimes we inherit systems --...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 02/09/2006
Finally, An Answer (and a mea culpa) For Adam Machanic
I've once again been frightfully neglectful of this blog, as the holidaze, shifting work...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 02/08/2006
Database Design: A Brief Rant About Quality
You've perhaps seen this item in the news, which discusses the woes which have befallen the Tokyo...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 12/09/2005
Slight Ado About Nothing: More On NULLs
(updated 08 February 2006 to correct glaring technical inaccuracies; thanks to Adam Machanic) Today...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 11/23/2005
93,000 Concurrent SAP Users In A Free Download?!
Well, not exactly.. After teasing you on Friday with hints of what you'd hear in today's launch of...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 11/07/2005
Launch 2005: Here Comes The Next Generation of Developer Tools
Remember the old Jimmy Buffett tune, "Come Monday"? Well, this coming Monday, November 7, 1995 (or...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 11/04/2005
XML Programming in SQL Server 2005
With the RTM of SQL Server 2005, excitement is understandably running very high in the SQL Server...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 10/30/2005
Database Design: Do Not Fear NULLs
Last week, I found myself simultaneously confounded and fascinated by a conversation on the internal...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 10/30/2005
Two Programming Tricks: Counting Characters In A String and RETURN CASE
A couple of tricks here, from some recent work: a user-defined function to count the number of...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 10/08/2005
The Gig Was..
.. a blast. Over $100 was raised, which the company will match, and as far as I know a good time was...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 10/08/2005
The Gig is On
As promised, here are the details of the Giving Campaign concert for Cocoon House. I'll be playing...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 09/30/2005
SQL Server 2005 September CTP Available Now!
Here's a nice little query on the Microsoft download site that will give you quick links to most all...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 09/18/2005
Respite From The Last Mile
I have been neglectful of this blog recently, as my team is hard on the last mile to both the...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 09/17/2005
Baseball Challenge This Sunday!
Full details here.. please support this worthy cause if you can! More next week.. -wp
Author: Ward Pond Date: 08/13/2005
The OPENROWSET Trick: Accessing Stored Procedure Output In A SELECT Statement
Updated 20 Mar 2009: This code is revisited here. This nifty little trick will allow you, with some...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 08/01/2005
Facelift I
I've given the blog a bit of a facelift.. please click the comment link below and let me know if you...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 07/29/2005
Thanks, Scotty..
Sad news today that James Doohan has passed away.. If you're of a particular age, Star Trek was at...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 07/21/2005
A Solution For Stripping Invalid XML Characters From varchar/text Data Structures
One of the more subtle aspects of converting (n)varchar or (n)text data to XML is the fact that XML...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 07/07/2005
SQL Server 2005 XQuery Performance Tips
During some recent Xquery performance work, three discoveries emerged which dramatically improved...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 06/24/2005
Welcome!
Welcome to my new blog. Perhaps I should start off by answering the old Admiral Stockdale question:...
Author: Ward Pond Date: 06/22/2005