I talk about SQL server every chance I get because of some the great features available (SSRS, SSIS, SSAS).  So I looked into SQL 2008 the first chance I got.  More than once I have been asked about the new features of SQL server 2008.  So here is a list I complied (not 100% of the features, just the ones I thought they were easy to sell) Top new features: T-SQL Intellisense – Intellisense is now available for T-SQL. This allows for easier and quicker development. Date/Time data types – There is a new...

When you design a table in a database and then try to make a change to a table structure that requires the table to be recreated, the management tools will not allow you to save the changes. You will get an error stating, “You have either made changes to a table that can’t be re-created or enabled the option Prevent saving changes that require the table be re-created.” What a pesky problem.  It prevents you from making progress when you making database changes. It’s a good thing you can turn it off. In Management Studio, go to Tools –> Options –> Designers...

So SP1 for SQL 2008 has been released by Microsoft.  You can download it here.  There is not much info about what is included.  It appears to be a cumulative update.  You can slipstream it with SQL server install image.  You can uninstall the service pack separate from the DB engine.

Sometimes when you writing TSQL in sever 2008 you will get the red squiggles (indicating you typed a table or field name incorrectly).    Yet everything will compile and run correctly, so what’s the deal. To fix this problem you just need to press ctrl+shift+r, which will rebuild the sql cache responsible for intellisense.’

Ever have the need to be able to track changes to the objects in your database? This code sample was provided by a friend, Josh Shilling. It provides you with a change log on your database. This will be helpful in multi developer environments when you think someone made a change to your database, but you don’t know what changes were made. So you can run Select * from dbversion.ChangeLog to see what changes have been to your db objects. I had a hard time getting the image of the results to show. GO /****** Object: Table [DBVersion].[ChangeLog] ******/ SET ANSI_NULLS ON GO SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON GO SET ANSI_PADDING...

SSIS is a great tool to move data around.  Sometimes it’s easier to use a stored proc to pull together some data before you do stuff with it. To use a stored procedure you can use an OLE DB source (in a Data Flow task) SQL command. Works great, but if it doesn’t and you get the error code 0xC02092B4, you will have to add to your stored procedure. Just add the following 2 lines to the top of your stored procedure: SET NOCOUNT ON SET FMTONLY OFF This will clear up the metadata issues with SSIS trying to understand what your stored procedures...