The Heap™ – Consultancy ©® - 2015-01-08 (page 2 of 2)

Aaron Bertrand

20:05

Tableau is pretty powerful. Steep learning curve, though.

ypercube

@bluefeet You may want to add this in your answer:

> table_source PIVOT <pivot_clause>

Specifies that the table_source is pivoted based on the pivot_column. table_source is a table or table expression. The output is a table that contains all columns of the table_source except the pivot_column and value_column. The columns of the table_source, except the pivot_column and value_column, are called the grouping columns of the pivot operator.

bluefeet

@ypercube where did you get that so I can reference it?

ypercube

From the FROM page

Paul White

I'm still the only person to up-vote that fish question.

swasheck

fish question?

bluefeet

20:08

@ypercube perfect, thanks

Aaron Bertrand

2

Q: Why pivot with "extra" columns doesn't combine results

I know many of you have observed this behavior, but I'm wondering if anyone can explain why. When I create a small table to create an example of using the pivot function, I get the results I'd expect: CREATE TABLE dbo.AverageFishLength ( Fishtype VARCHAR(50) , AvgLength DECIMAL(...

bluefeet

@PaulWhite I did

Paul White

Good on you. Refreshing to see a well-asked question on SO.

mmarie

Ugh... I wish i could permanently dismiss the newsfeed.

Paul White

@mmarie Why? I'm finding it quite useful.

Zane

20:12

@PaulWhite really like seeing that you posted something?

@PaulWhite I would like it if I could have some control over it.

Paul White

@Zane No but I'm seeing lots of other interesting stuff that I would usually have missed.

mmarie

I guess it's mostly the placement. If it could go under the starred comments, I probably wouldn't mind it so much.

Zane

Like set it to show me new SSIS questions or something.

mmarie

yeah, if i could limit what is shown a bit more and move it out of the top left area, i would feel differently about it

Aaron Bertrand

Sorry I promised Kermit yesterday that I would stop interacting on the site to reduce the notifications there. I suck at promises.

Paul White

20:14

Yes I'm sure we'd all like those improvements. This is just a manual POC type thing. If it gets properly implemented I'm sure it'll be all colours of awesome.

bluefeet

thanks for the edits @ypercube. I've made a few adjustments as well

Zane

However at the moment it just pops up items I'm not terribly interested in and I find I can't dismiss it quickly enough.

ypercube

@PaulWhite Different colours to differentiate posters would be nice

Zane

Although I wouldn't have seen your deadlock answer if it wasn't there and it was a damn good Q and A.

Paul White

@Zane Are you using it on a desktop or phone? I find it only mildly distracting and really not all that active, considering.

Zane

20:17

@PaulWhite laptop

I'm pretty picky about my notifications though. I need them to address them and make them go away quite quickly.

swasheck

so much whining

Lamak

@Zane me too

Paul White

~~Whining~~ Feedback should go here really:

7

Q: Experimenting with top user ticker overlay feeds in The Heap

I made a feature-request on M.SE which met with a mixed reception - guarded interest plus virulent opposition. Basically I was suggesting having an overlay ticker-feed of activity on the main site of users in the chat room. In order to see whether this could be in any way helpful, I'd like to pu...

discussion chat

billinkc

I'd like to see the notifications disappear after N timeunits. Perhaps it does and my OCD prevents me from waiting it out. But it just keeps staring at me, taunting me with that subtle "dismiss"

swasheck

@PaulWhite i suppose it's just easier to whine

billinkc

20:20

@PaulWhite Liar. Feedback is always best where it provides no benefit, is not tracked, etc

Lamak

@PaulWhite I'm gonna wait the suggested "few weeks" before giving my opinion though

Paul White

@swasheck Easier than spelling anyway.

billinkc

That which doesn't get measured, gets done

swasheck

@PaulWhite at least for me

Paul White

Wise words Mr Bill.

billinkc

20:21

Can't build a chicken empire without wisdom

Lamak

@PaulWhite never thought I would read that in my lifetime

Paul White

When did that thing with disallowing comments that start with +1 or -1 come in?

billinkc

@Lamak I never thought you'd be able to read either but good on you

Paul White

I had to use parentheticisation

bluefeet

@PaulWhite On SO a few months ago

Paul White

20:22

(+1) I rarely use PIVOT these days. The manual method is often more explicit, arguably easier to read, and results in exactly the same execution plan. — Paul White 11 mins ago

billinkc

There was meta discussion on it and it hit this channel

Lamak

@billinkc that's a good point, good on me

bluefeet

-78

Q: Should we discourage leading +/-1 on comments?

I'm getting really sick of finding folks arguing about votes, only to see that the bickering started with a comment of the form, -1, because [some perfectly reasonable criticism] As has been discussed many times, voting is anonymous for a reason; folks who give up that anonymity do so at th...

discussion comments

Paul White

-78!

Lamak

yup, wasn't terrible popular. It could've been implemented as if the comment is too short and starts with a +1/-1, but I dislike the idea that I can't start a comment with that, even if there's a lot to comment

Michael J Swart

20:27

anyone see the latest #sqlhelp question? a screen shot for some mysql insert?

My first question was "what kind of restaurants?"

Kris Gruttemeyer

From iNJRDH?

billinkc

Does that say porn.restaurants?

Paul White

حدا يساعد >)> #sqlhelp http://t.co/ydoJb3ueZd

Tweeted by i_NJR_YT on January 8, 2015 at 8:24 PM

Hm that didn't work as well as I'd hoped.

Kris Gruttemeyer

I do believe it does. I don't know how to, I mean........wut

John M

@PaulWhite WOW.

billinkc

20:31

That could be the greatest mistranslation in all of history. That or the most ewww of things

Paul White

speechless

Michael J Swart

ಠ_ಠ

Zane

@PaulWhite I'm not sure I can help that man.

billinkc

Let it never be said the mjswart does not bring quality to the SE network

Kris Gruttemeyer

With all of my heart I want to tweet and ask about his schema

Paul White

20:32

+2 as I like to make my comments focus on me — billinkc 6 mins ago

^ ha!

billinkc

It was +1 to test the filter and then I modified it after reading the prompt

Surprised it hasn't been scrubbed for being chatty

Or just dumb

swasheck

@billinkc new stackexchange site

billinkc

@swasheck If ever a question was suited for the expert-sexchange site

Michael J Swart

@billinkc @billinkc I knew there was a joke in there somewhere. Glad you found it.

billinkc

@MichaelJSwart Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then

swasheck

20:42

i am still living with your ... goat

Shog9

lonely and dreaming of the wet coat

billinkc

Shugge naught!

Paul White

Thanks

swasheck

aaaaaaand boom goes the dynamite

Lamak

and the @Kermit

Kermit

20:46

huh

i'm getting paid $350 for one hour of a focus group

sounds like an excellent deal

Paul White

We got shogged

Lamak

quick, let's talk about databases

@Kermit what's the catch?

Kermit

@Lamak i have to commute downtown

Lamak

still seems worth it

Paul White

1

Q: SQL Server 2000-2014 migration using 2008 Express as intermediary

This should be a fairly simple question to answer. None of the other similar questions that I saw addressed this specific issue, and as I don't have the reputation to ask for clarification in a comment (just created), I have to post a new one. We have SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition. They hav...

sql-server migration

Good question. Wonder if it would qualify as a licencing question ha ha.

mmarie

21:18

@swasheck I have handmade coasters that have inccorrect song lyrics on them. that makes me think of them

swasheck

nice

Mike Fal

21:39

Ummm...for the licensing question, I'm pretty sure if you're licensed for a current version of SQL Server, you're also licensed for all previous versions. Or maybe that's just a software assurance thing?

billinkc

I thought SA granted forward mobility

Also, 500ish line stored proc. Entire content of the body has been commented out and it has a hardcoded SELECT 1 as the only uncommented thing

Anyone have a clever approach to determining whether the time component of a datetime column is not at midnight?

I suspect that most of our *Date fields would really have been fine as the date data type

I can go the SELECT * FROM Table AS CH WHERE CH.EffectiveDate <> CAST(CAST(CH.EffectiveDate AS date) AS datetime) but that's as ugly as the day is long

I suppose if I calculated all the dates between my min and max, I could compare that to my EffectiveDate column

James Lupolt

21:58

@Kermit What's the focus group about?

JNK

DECLARE @t TABLE (d datetime)
INSERT INTO @t
VALUES
('2014-01-01'), ('2014-01-01 8:00:00')

SELECT *
FROM @t
WHERE CAST(d AS date) <> d

probably won't be sargable

Paul White

Cast to date often is, but not always a good idea due to cardinality estimation issues.

18

Q: Cast to date is sargable but is it a good idea?

In SQL Server 2008 the date datatype was added. In this Connect item you can see that casting a datetime column to date is sargable and may use an index on the datetime column. select * from T where cast(DateTimeCol as date) = '20130101'; The other option you have is to use a range instead. ...

sql-server

@MikeFal That's what makes it a "close as about licencing" question :)

Does having a licence for 2014 entitle you to install 2008/R2 for the purposes of upgrading?

^ Ask Microsoft ^

swasheck

@Zane you around?

Zane

Yes sir.

mmarie

22:13

@JohnM worked for me

swasheck

@Zane have a google-generated 90s playlist and this just came up ... instaskip

play.google.com/music/m/Tmw4z6qnqp4otyxer2qtm3bo3ri

John M

@mmarie thanks

Paul White

@JohnM Thank you for providing a blind link that immediately started downloading a huge ISO for me :)

(and yes, it worked for me!)

swasheck

flag for moderator

John M

@PaulWhite Who doesn't need an extra SQL 2008 R2 Eval copy ?!

swasheck

22:15

me. 2008r2 is so 2007

Paul White

@JohnM Ha ha!

BOOM goes the link.

swasheck

kablammalammadingdong

Zane

@swasheck lol

billinkc

Anyone ever had cause to set the fips_flagger? msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189781.aspx

SQL

SQL (/ˈɛs kjuː ˈɛl/, or /ˈsiːkwəl/; Structured Query Language) is a special-purpose programming language designed for managing data held in a relational database management system (RDBMS), or for stream processing in a relational data stream management system (RDSMS). Originally based upon relational algebra and tuple relational calculus, SQL consists of a data definition language and a data manipulation language. The scope of SQL includes data insert, query, update and delete, schema creation and modification, and data access control. Although SQL is often described as, and to a great extent is...

Paul White

@billinkc Hasn't been updated for yonks. Like 7.0 days.

And...no.

billinkc

22:26

I see that Oracle has it as well, suspected that it's some thing that satisfies a checkbox and no one dares question it

swasheck

THANKS SHAREPOINT FOR NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zane

@swasheck Isn't that their slogan?

Kermit

@JamesLupolt recruiting website

swasheck

@Zane seems like it should be

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The Heap™ – Consultancy ©®