The SQL Server BETWEEN operator allows you to test between a range of values in your queries. For example, you could test that a value is between two numbers.
The BETWEEN operator is inclusive, meaning that it includes the values that you specify within the range. That is, it includes values that are greater than or equal to the lower value, and values that are less than or equal to the higher value. Therefore it’s like using >= and <=.
In SQL Server, the ANSI_NULLS setting allows you to specify how NULL values are treated in queries.
You can use the SESSIONPROPERTY() function to check the ANSI_NULLS setting for the current session.
Below is a list of T-SQL comparison operators that you can use in SQL Server.
Continue readingI was trying to set up a up a linked server from SQL Server to PostgreSQL when I got error Msg 7222, Level 16 “Only a SQL Server provider is allowed on this instance”.
The message is reasonably self explanatory, but it still didn’t tell me what it was about my instance that prevented it from being allowed.
It didn’t take long to find out.
Continue readingWhen you execute a stored procedure that returns a result set in SQL Server, the columns returned are defined in the stored procedure.
But did you know that you can redefine those columns?
What I mean is, you can change the names and/or the data type of the columns returned in the result set.
This could save you from having to fiddle with the column headers and data formats in the event you needed to use that result set in another setting.
For example, if a stored procedure returns a datetime2 column, but you only need the date part, you could specify date for that column, and your result set will only include the date part.
And the best part is that you can do it as part of the EXECUTE statement. No need to massage the data after executing the procedure. way to do this is by using the WITH RESULT SETS clause of the EXECUTE statement.
If you encounter error Msg 11535, Level 16 while trying to execute a stored procedure, it’s because you didn’t define enough result sets in the WITH RESULT SETS clause.
Some stored procedures return multiple result sets. When using the WITH RESULT SETS clause, you need to define each expected result set. You need to do this even if you only want to change the definition of one or some of the result sets.
To fix this error, simply add the additional result sets to the WITH RESULT SETS clause, each separated by a comma.
You could also fix it by removing the WITH RESULT SETS clause, but I’ll assume you’re using it for a reason (i.e. you need to redefine the result set returned by the procedure).
If you encounter error Msg 11537, Level 16 in SQL Server, chances are that you’re trying to execute a stored procedure by using the WITH RESULT SETS clause, but you haven’t included all the columns in your definition.
When you use the WITH RESULT SETS clause in the EXECUTE/EXEC statement, you must provide a definition for all columns returned by the stored procedure. If you don’t, you’ll get this error.
Have you ever run a stored procedure, only to be overwhelmed at the number of columns returned? Maybe you only needed one or two columns, but it presented you with way too many columns for your needs on this particular occasion.
Fortunately, there’s a little trick you can use to retrieve selected columns from a stored procedure. This enables you to get just the columns you need.
And the best part is, it doesn’t involve having to create temporary tables and shuffling the data around.
All you need to do is pass your stored procedure to the OPENROWSET() function.
The same concept can be applied to the OPENQUERY() function.
If you’re getting a “profile name is not valid” error when updating a Database Mail profile in SQL Server, it could be that you’ve forgotten to provide the profile ID.
When you update a Database Mail profile with the sysmail_update_profile_sp stored procedure, you need to include the profile ID if you want to update the profile name.
RPC stands for Remote Procedure Calls. It needs to be enabled before you can execute stored procedures on a linked server.
If you’re not sure whether it’s enabled on a linked server, you can check it’s setting by querying the sys.servers system catalog view.