If you’re getting an error that reads “‘GENERATE_SERIES’ is not a recognized built-in function name” in SQL Server, it could be that you’re calling GENERATE_SERIES() in the wrong context.

In SQL Server, GENERATE_SERIES() is a relational operator that returns a series of values from a given start and stop point.

When we call GENERATE_SERIES() in a SQL query, we don’t include it in the SELECT list, like we would with many SQL functions. Instead, we reference it in the FROM clause, like we would reference a table.

So if you’re getting the above error, it could be that you’re inadvertently making this mistake. To fix, be sure to call GENERATE_SERIES() in the correct context.

Continue reading →

If you’re getting error number 4123 that reads “Window element in OVER clause can not also be specified in WINDOW clause” in SQL Server, it’s probably because you’re referring to a named window with the same clause that’s in the named window.

When we use the OVER clause to refer to a named window in SQL Server, we can’t include a clause that’s also present in the named window.

To fix the issue, remove one of the clauses – either the one in the OVER clause or the one in the named window.

Continue reading →

If you’re getting error 8144 with a message that reads “Procedure or function GENERATE_SERIES has too many arguments specified” in SQL Server, it’s because you’re passing too many arguments to the GENERATE_SERIES() function.

The GENERATE_SERIES() function/relational operator accepts a minimum of two arguments, and a maximum of three (at least, this is the case at the time of writing).

So to fix this error, be sure to provide either two arguments or three when using the GENERATE_SERIES() function.

Continue reading →

If you’re getting SQL Server error 402 that reads something like “The data types numeric and numeric are incompatible in the approx_percentile_disc operator“, it’s probably because you’re trying to use the APPROX_PERCENTILE_DISC() function on a column of the wrong data type.

It could be that you’ve simply passed the wrong column, or it could be that the column is the correct one, but it’s of the wrong type.

To fix, be sure that the column/expression is of a supported type.

Continue reading →

If you’re getting SQL Server error 4199 that reads “Argument value 0 is invalid for argument 3 of generate_series function“, it’s probably because you’re passing zero as the third argument to the GENERATE_SERIES() function.

The GENERATE_SERIES() function accepts an optional third argument, but this argument can’t be zero.

To fix this error, either pass a non-zero expression as the third argument, or omit the argument altogether (in order to use the default step of 1).

Continue reading →