Deanna Dicken

The questions you may wish to ask or that will be asked during a SQL Server Developer interview will vary. Deanna Dicken shares the top 9 interview questions she asks when interviewing a potential SQL Server developer. Introduction In my many years in Information Technology, I have performed so many SQL Server interviews that I […]

As enterprises add systems and acquire companies, they will most likely find themselves faced with a growing inconsistency amongst core data utilized by their key systems. This leads to an inability to provide quality data to management. Master Data Services for SQL Server provides a means to centrally manage and serve up this critical enterprise […]

Cursors provide a means of processing through a set of records row-by-row. However, many companies have a policy against using cursors in their SQL Server standards. This article examines the problem with cursors and alternatives to using them. What is a Cursor A cursor is used to process through a result set one row at […]

Crunched by the economy and squeezed by competition, businesses and consumers alike are turning to mobile computing. This report wraps up our overview of the top contenders in the mobile database market with a look at Sybase SQL Anywhere and SQLite. SQL Anywhere Sybase, makers of SQL Anywhere, just announced version 12 of their mobile […]

Today’s workforce and consumers have become increasingly mobile. Businesses crunched by the economy or squeezed by competition look to mobile computing to gain a competitive advantage. This report examines the top contenders in the mobile database market space, starting with SQL Server Compact, Oracle Database Lite and IBM DB2 Everyplace. Introduction Today’s workforce and consumers […]

Deanna Dicken examines a SQL Server Profiler event to determine object access…who is using the object, when, and how. This gives the SQL developer or database administrator much needed information for impact analysis prior to a change or the decommissioning of a SQL Server object. Overview I had a dilemma the other day. I have […]

XML has become a common form of representing and exchanging data in today’s information age. SQL Server introduced XML-centric capabilities in SQL Server 2000. That functionality has been expanded in later releases. One aspect of working with XML is creating XML from relational data, which is accomplished utilizing the FOR XML clause in SQL Server. […]

The introduction of the xml data type, with its own set of methods for processing xml data, made it possible for SQL Server developers to create columns and variables of the type xml. Deanna Dicken examines the modify() method, which provides for data manipulation of the XML data stored in the xml data type via […]

XML is, it seems, everywhere. SQL Server has ever-improving functionality that helps us peek into, shred, store, manipulate and otherwise utilize XML. This article covers XML variables, XML columns, typed vs. untyped XML, and the xml data type methods. Introduction XML is, it seems, everywhere. Businesses use it to coordinate, collaborate, and exchange data with […]

When a SQL Server object is created that references another SQL Server object, such as a stored procedure called from a trigger, that dependency is recorded by the database engine. This article details how to get at that dependency information. Object Dependency Described A dependency is created when one SQL Server object, the referencing entity, […]

Before SQL Server 2008, you had to build a custom solution if you wanted to keep track of the changes to the data in your tables. SQL Server 2008 has a new offering called Change Tracking that keeps track of each DML event type and the keys of the row that was affected. Introduction Before […]

Introduction MERGE is a new statement introduced in the SQL:2003 standard for performing multiple DML (Data Manipulation Language) statements against a target table at once. In this article we’ll look into ways to take advantage of this powerful addition to SQL Server 2008. What is MERGE In SQL Server 2005 and prior, if you needed […]