Webcast on SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Enhancements Now Publicly Available!

A few days ago I delivered a Live Webcast on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Programmability and more specifically on T-SQL Enhancements.   SQL Server 2008 T-SQL Enhancements Webcast’s Agenda During the Webcast I talked about the following SQL Server 2008 Programmability features: Variables Declaration and Initialization Compound Assignment Operators Large UDTs DATE, TIME, DATETIME2 New … Read more…

New Date-Related Functions in SQL Server 2008 and Later

Along with the new data types DATE, TIME and DATETIME2 in SQL Server 2008, new and enhanced functions are also included. New Date Functions Added in SQL Server 2008 and Later The new data functions originally added in SQL Server 2008 are : SYSDATETIME SYSUTCDATETIME SYSDATETIMEOFFSET SWITCHOFFSET TODATETIMEOFFSET A more thorough explanation follows: SYSDATETIME This … Read more…

Live Webcast Announcement – SQL Server 2008 Programmability

One of the things that inspires me the most in SQL Server, is the continuous enhancement of its programmability features like Data Access (Entity Framework and Data Services support), Visual Studio Integration, LINQ, Sync Framework, Project “Velocity” and of course, T-SQL Enhancements. So I think that it is time for a Live Webcast! On Wednesday, … Read more…

SQL Server 2008 Collation Alignment with Windows Server 2008

SQL Server 2008 is fully aligned with the collations in Windows Server 2008.To this end, it has 80 new collations which are denoted by *_100 version references. The total number of variations for these collations exceeds 1400.The purpose of this enhancement is to provide users with the most up-to-date and linguistically accurate cultural sorting conventions. … Read more…

Undocumented Stored Procedure sp_MSforeachdb

A really neat undocumented SQL Server stored procedure is sp_MSforeachdb. This stored procedure takes as parameters SQL commands which are then executed against all databases on the current SQL Server instance.   Simple Example of sp_MSforeachdb in SQL Server A simple example (“Hello World”-style 🙂 is the following which lists all the databases in the … Read more…

Windows Internal Database (SSEE)

In this article, we will be discussing about the Windows Internal Database (SSEE), what it is and how you can access it via SQL Server Management Studio.   About the Windows Internal Database The Windows Internal Database is a special variant of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express. It is included with Windows Server 2008, Windows … Read more…

ADO .NET Data Services for the Web / Visual Studio 2010: A First Look

Another Cyprus .NET User Group special event took place a few days ago (June 18th, 2009). This event was somehow “celebratory”. It was the last offline event before summer holidays. The next offline event (within the series of Community Nights) will take place after two months time, in September 2009. During the summer months (July … Read more…

Upcoming CDNUG Event, June 18th – ADO .NET Data Services for the Web / Visual Studio 2010: A First Look

It is time for another CDNUG event! This event will probably be the last event of CDNUG before summer holidays. The next event will take place next September. To this end, the CDNUG committee decided that this event should feature a variety of .NET and SQL Server Technologies thus providing a taste of all their … Read more…

Screencast: Using Inheritance in the ADO .NET Entity Framework

Welcome to another screencast dedicated to SQL Server 2008 Programmability! This screencast again features the ADO .NET Entity Framework. The screencast demonstrates how the developer can create an entity data model in Visual Studio 2008, and goes one step further, thus demonstrating a simple way of using inheritance in the entity data model.   Watch … Read more…

Screencast: How to Create an Entity Data Model

Welcome to my first screencast dedicate to SQL Server 2008 Programmability! This screencast features the ADO .NET Entity Framework; a new feature of Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 providing the developer with fast, robust and scalable data access. SQL Server 2008 fully supports the ADO .NET Entity Framework, allowing developers to effortlessly create entity data models … Read more…

Installing 32-bit SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services on a 64-bit machine/Windows OS

Is it possible to install 32-bit SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services on a 64-bit Computer/Windows OS while keeping the 64-bit version of the rest of SQL Server features? The answer is yes!   The Scenario about Installing 32-bit SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services on a 64-bit machine/Windows OS Well, here’s the story: I recently installed … Read more…

The Entity Framework – Part 2 – Inheritance

As promised on my previous Entity Framework-related post I will try through a series of posts which will contain examples, to talk about the ADO. NET Entity Framework and all the cool features it provides the developer with. This post discusses Inheritance in ADO .NET Entity Framework. Inheritance allows creating entities having as base type … Read more…