You might have noticed that SQL Server doesn’t have an equivalent of MySQL‘s UNIX_TIMESTAMP() function.
However, it’s not that difficult to return the Unix timestamp in SQL Server.
The Unix timestamp (also known as Unix Epoch time, Unix time, or POSIX time) is simply the number of seconds that have elapsed since 00:00:00 Thursday, 1 January 1970, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Therefore, in SQL Server we can use a couple of T-SQL functions to return this.
When formatting a date using the FORMAT() function in SQL Server, the date will be formatted according to the language of your local session. However, you can override this by specifying a culture to use, or using a custom date format.
This article demonstrates how to explicitly specify a German date format by using the optional “culture” argument of the FORMAT() function. It also demonstrates how to use your own custom date format if that is more desirable.
This article demonstrates how to explicitly format a date in Great Britain English format when using the T-SQL FORMAT() function in SQL Server.
You may or may not need to use this argument, depending on the language of your local session. However, here’s how to explicitly specify Great Britain English date format.
In SQL Server, you can use the T-SQL FORMAT() function to display a date in the desired format. This function accepts an optional “culture” argument, which you can use to specify US date format.
You may or may not need to use this argument, depending on the language of your local session. However, here’s how to explicitly specify US date format.
In SQL Server, you can use the T-SQL FORMAT() function to format a time data type. However, if you need to add the AM/PM designator, you’ll need to use a different data type. This is because the time data type is specifically based on a 24 hour clock, and therefore the time is formatted as such.
In SQL Server, you can use the T-SQLÂ FORMAT() function to format a number as a currency.
The FORMAT() function allows you to format numbers, dates, currencies, etc. It accepts three arguments; the number, the format, and an optional “culture” argument. This article specifically deals with using the format argument to specify a currency.
In SQL Server, you can use the T-SQL FORMAT() function to return values such as numbers and dates as formatted strings.
You provide the value to be formatted, and you specify the format to use. The function accepts an optional argument that allows you to specify a culture to use when formatting the value.
Continue readingHere, I explain how to use Azure Data Studio (formerly SQL Operations Studio) to create a database in SQL Server.
In my case, I’m running SQL Server on a Mac (via a Docker container), but these instructions are generic and should work exactly the same way on Linux and Windows.
This tutorial assumes you already have Azure Data Studio installed on your machine, and you’ve connected to your SQL Server instance. If you don’t have Azure Data Studio installed on your machine, here are instructions for installing it on a Mac and connecting to SQL Server via Docker. The Azure Data Studio installation is pretty straightforward (you install it just like any other software), so if you’re on Linux or Windows, you shouldn’t have any issues.
Restoring a database is a piece of cake with Azure Data Studio. It’s a similar process to doing it with SQL Server Management Studio. Simply click Restore and follow the prompts.
This restore process allows you to navigate through the computer’s file system to locate the .bak file. This .bak file contains a backup of the database you want to restore. So when SQL Server restores the database, it’s using the .bak file to do so.
However, if you’re running your SQL Server instance inside a Docker container (which of course, you would be if you’re running SQL Server on Mac or Linux), there’s something you need to be aware of if your backup file is located outside the Docker container.
Azure Data Studio (previously known as SQL Operations Studio) is a free tool that you can use to manage SQL Server. It uses a graphical user interface (GUI) that helps you view the various databases and objects within a SQL Server instance. It can run on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and it’s also designed to be used with Azure SQL Database, and Azure SQL Data Warehouse.
Here I explain how to install Azure Data Studio onto a Mac, then how to use it to connect to SQL Server.