In SQL Server, when working with temporary tables, it’s common to ensure a temp table with the same name doesn’t already exist before creating it. This prevents any unwanted errors. SQL Server doesn’t support CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS like some other DBMSs do, so you must explicitly check and drop the table beforehand.
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Converting Between Time Zones in SQL Server with AT TIME ZONE
Converting between time zones in SQL Server has evolved throughout the years. Prior to SQL Server 2016, there was no simple, built-in function to handle this task. We had to use a complex, multi-step approach involving functions like SWITCHOFFSET() and TODATETIMEOFFSET(), and we had to manually account for Daylight Saving Time (DST) rules for each time zone. This method was often prone to error and required constant maintenance to keep up with changing time zone and DST regulations.
Convert DDMMYYYY to DATE in SQL Server
Sometimes you might get dates in a non-standard format, such as DDMMYYYY. By “non-standard” I mean a format that SQL Server doesn’t recognize as a date. Such a format is actually a little ambiguous. Some dates presented in this format could be mistaken for another date. For example, 02082026 could be August 2, 2026, or it could be February 8, 2026 depending on which locale you’re using.
Therefore, we need to do a bit of work in order to get SQL Server to recognize it as a date. Once that’s done, it’s a simple matter of converting it to an actual DATE type.
Below are a few options for converting a DDMMYYYY string to a DATE in SQL Server.
How to Use STRING_AGG() in SQL Server with Custom Separators and Sorting
In SQL Server, STRING_AGG() is an aggregate function that concatenates string values from a group into a single string. It’s a handy tool for doing things like creating comma-separated lists from related data.
In this article we’ll check out how to use STRING_AGG() with different separators. We’ll also see how we can control the order of the concatenated strings.
4 Ways to Format the Current Date as MM/DD/YYYY in SQL Server
In SQL Server, we can use functions like GETDATE() to get the current date and time. There are also other functions, like CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, SYSDATETIME(), etc. These functions return values using one of the valid date/time types. For example, GETDATE() and CURRENT_TIMESTAMP return a datetime type, while SYSDATETIME() returns a datetime2(7) value.
Either way, if we want the current date to be displayed using MM/DD/YYYY format, we’ll need to do some extra work.
Fortunately SQL Server provides us with a range of options for doing this, and so we can pick the one that suits our scenario.
With that in mind, here are four ways to format the current date as MM/DD/YYYY in SQL Server.
5 Ways of Checking the Existence of Temporary Tables in SQL Server
When working with temporary tables in SQL Server, one of the most common tasks is checking whether the table already exists before creating it. This prevents errors in the event the table already exists, and ensures your scripts run smoothly regardless of previous executions.
In this article, we’ll explore five different approaches to checking for temporary table existence in SQL Server.
Convert MMDDYYYY to DATE in SQL Server
Sometimes we get dates in a format that SQL Server has trouble with when we try to convert them to an actual DATE value. One example would be dates in MMDDYYYY format. While it might be easy to assume that SQL Server would be able to handle this easily, when we stop to think about it, this format is fraught with danger.
The MMDDYYYY format is ambiguous. While we might know that the first two digits are for the month, SQL Server doesn’t know this. Some countries/regions use the first two digits for the day (like DDMMYYYY). So if we get a date like, 01032025, how would SQL Server know whether it’s the first day of the third month, or the third day of the first month?
Formatting DATE as MMDDYYYY in SQL Server
In SQL Server, we have several options when it comes to formatting a DATE or DATETIME value as MMDDYYYY. The two most common functions for formatting dates like this are CONVERT() and FORMAT().
Round vs Format in SQL Server: Which to Use for Decimal Precision?
When working with numbers in SQL Server, both ROUND() and FORMAT() can be used to round the numeric values to a given decimal precision. But that doesn’t mean we should use them interchangeably. Each function serves a different purpose and has its distinct use cases.
RPAD() Alternative: Applying Right Padding in SQL Server
The SQL rpad() function has been widely implemented across many major RDBMSs, including MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB, to name just a few. But when it comes to SQL Server, we have a problem. SQL Server doesn’t currently provide us with an rpad() function.
But that’s not to say we can’t apply right padding in SQL Server. SQL Server still provides us with enough tools to get the job done. With a bit of work, we can get a similar result to what we might be able to achieve with rpad(). It may not be as elegant as a simple rpad() function, but at least it’s an option.