Sherpa of Data

Category: SQLBasics

  • Something to Remember with APPLY

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    I bet y’all thought that we had completely exhausted the topic of how to use APPLY – whether it be CROSS APPLY or OUTER APPLY. Well, guess what? The word to remember when using either of the APPLY operators is deterministic. A deterministic function, as defined by O’Reilly, “always returns the same results if given…

  • CROSS vs OUTER: Knockdown drag-out free for all

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    In this corner, with a total of 10 letters – we have CROSS APPLY. In the other corner, also with a total of 10 letters – we have OUTER APPLY. Yes, that’s right. From the outside, there’s truly not a lot of difference between the two apply operators. Both of them work very well with…

  • STRING_SPLIT is to be used with what?

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    My friends! Last time together, we discussed using the STRING_SPLIT function and how it’s used in combination with the CROSS APPLY. First off, most of us are used to working with an INNER JOIN instead of CROSS APPLY. Well, you’re not going to be able to use an INNER JOIN when you’re using the STRING_SPLIT…

  • Have Separated Fields? Make Them Rows!

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    Sometimes, you’ll have a lot of comma-separated data in your databases. Maybe you’ll have lots of data shoved into one field separated only by a vertical bar. As we all should be asking, “How do I get that data out of that one field and separated into several rows?” Well, I’m glad you asked, my…

  • Opposite of a Left Anti Join

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    If you followed along with last weeks’ post (found here), then the title of today’s post hopefully makes sense. If not, then I would highly recommend reading it (or re-reading it) so that we all can be on the same page. Read it? Great. Let’s get started. Last week I left you with the following…

  • A New Way to Contrast Data

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    If you’ve been following along with the previous blog posts, you’ll know I like to show different ways to get the same data. With last week’s post on how to find where two tables differ – found here – you know that this week we’re going to see another way of seeing what is shown…

  • Ways to Contrast Data

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    As you have probably determined, with blog posts like these: Ways to Compare Data Different Way to Compare Data You know when the word compare is used, sooner or later the opposite is going to be used. Yes, folks – this week we are going to be talking about contrasting data. You’ll notice the usage…

  • A Different Way to Compare Data

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    Last week, we discussed the INTERSECT operator and how it is a great way to show what data points are the same between two disparate sources. As with most operators in SQL Server, there is another way to get the same data. It’s one that many of you are familiar with – it is the…

  • Ways to Compare Data

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    Today’s one of my favorite days – the day we start a new series of posts to help people out with their data! This week, I want to talk about one of the many things that people have asked me to do for them because they think it’s just too hard. This week, I want…

  • Wrapping Everything Up Importing and Exporting

    —

    by

    Kevin
    in

    When we think of importing and exporting data into SQL Server, whether it be from Excel spreadsheets or some other source, we do have to be careful. If we want to import data into a Production system – this is probably a bad idea period. If proper monitoring is happening on the server, someone will…